Wanaka

Turning inland from the west coast, we headed up gently sloping valleys towards Wanaka in the south central  region (Otago) of the south island.

We stopped for lunch at the far end of the lake from Wanaka, and couldn't get enough of the scenery and lake.

These rocks are all underwater

An endless collection of good skipping stones

Then we arrived in Wanaka, a quiet little town of 5000 people, described as a smaller and more serene version of Queenstown - the touristy "adventure capital" an hour away.  We loved it.  It was just like summer in the Okanagan but with taller mountains, fewer people and a clearer lake.  We decided to stay for a couple of days & relax - and since there was free wifi at our lovely holiday park, to finally do some blogging about New Zealand.

Between our holiday park and the lake - a vineyard.

A stunt plane was doing crazy tricks to welcome us.

Ooo, and that lake - excellent!  A long, stony beach right in front of town with lots of room for everyone, and cold, clear water.  Perfect for refreshing swims.

Yay!

Even Sarah was swimming!

The beach rocks were permeated with shiny minerals.  What else did we do?  Not much.

Had a local beer (and reasonably priced!) beer overlooking the lake.

Watched some live Kiwi music in a chill cafe.

Watched the local sailing club's races while walking home for the night.

Toured the local, family-run brewery near the airport - Wanaka Beer Works.  Oddly, it shares a building with the touristy, kitschy Air and Transport Museum.

Walked some local lakeside parks, watching the local families engage in - gasp - waterskiing!  No, not wake boarding, but honest-to-goodness old school waterskiing like I used to do as a kid.  Cool.

Walked on big stumps.

Went to the rich end of town where the well-off have beautiful new houses with stunning lake views.

An old-school modernist example, but it's nothing but glass in front

Drove down the lake far enough to see the Rob Roy glacier.  (We could have hiked to it, but I don't think HAL was up to 30 km each way of rough gravel road, including a few river fords, that it takes to get to the trailhead.  And he wasn't insured for it either.)

Had a look at the local ski hill, Treble Cone, where the paragliders were out in force.  Yes, you apparently have to drive up the side of this steep mountain via gravel switchbacks to get to the ski hill.  I'm not sure how they do it in winter.

Look at the above photo and tell me that doesn't resemble the Okanagan Valley - I dare you!

We had a wonderful time relaxing and recharging in Wanaka, and we can't recommend it enough if you're on the South Island.  Be sure to get a cheese scone at the Federal Cafe, have a "Brewski" pilsner by Wanaka Beer Works, and go for a swim (though you might want to wait for a few consecutive sunny days first if you're not a fan of cold water).  And the Paradisio Cinema Cafe is extremely cool, though we didn't make it to a movie there.

I can't believe it - this blog is actually up to date again.  Time for a well-deserved beer.  :-)

West Coast Glaciers, etc.

The central west coast of New Zealand's south island is home to a couple of very well-known and accessible glaciers - the Franz Josef and the Fox.  Each are just a short drive/walk off the coastal highway.  And both are unique in that they're so close to the ocean and so low-elevation - they extend down into the temperate rainforest in places.  Massive annual rainfall (16 metres on the mountain tops) = lots of snow accumulation = lots of ice accumulating and "flowing" downhill.

Franz Josef was first.

Ahh, the Misty Mountains of Lord Of The Rings fame.

 

You aren't allowed too near the glaciers, due to numerous dangers such as falling ice, falling rock, flash floods caused by falling ice and rock, etc.

So you can see the glacier, but can't get close to it without going on a guided tour.  These tours usually happen on the Fox glacier - Franz Josef isn't particularly accessible.

Like most of earth's glaciers, this one has retreated a long way - it filled this valley at the time of European discovery.

Sarah tried to charm the cute, two-dimensional Kiwi ranger into letting us past the signs, but he was immobile and flatly denied us.  :-)

Ice tsunamis and break-dancing through falling rocks - very dangerous stuff.

 
Next was the Fox glacier, where Sarah again worked her charms on the ranger, who wouldn't budge from writing his condition report.

You could get a lot closer to the Fox glacier; up to a left-hand viewpoint overlooking it.  (Franz Josef's equivalent overlook trail had been recently closed due to a landslide.)

A "no stopping" policy for pedestrians - that was a first for us.  But I can see why.

I tried pleading with the ranger to let us pass this time, but he wasn't having any of it.  A couple of people died not long ago because they went past the end of the trail and were crushed under a wall of ice that fell off the toe of the glacier.

The Fox was decent, though its charms were otherwise dulled by a large claw loader and work crew shoring up some of the slopes adjacent to the glacier.

But that didn't stop the glacier walkers from, well, walking on the glacier.  Fortunately we Canadians can walk on snow and ice practically whenever we want, so we skipped the tour.

Again, the whole valley was covered in ice not all that long ago.  Not so anymore.

Only about a year ago, this slide buried a bunch of vehicles in the former Fox Glacier parking lot.  As you can see, they have since moved the parking lot down a bit and have routed the road around the slide area.

Continuing south, we stopped at the Knights Point Lookout long enough to snap some photos before the sand flies drove us onward.

Next we hit a classic whitebait harvesting river.  Whitebait is a seasonal delicacy in this region - it is the very early, immature form of several native fish.  They are so young that they are transparent, and all look more or less the same. They are caught in nets at the river mouth.

I'm not kidding it's a delicacy - hardly fire sale prices!

The classic way to eat whitebait is in a pattie made with only a bit of beaten egg.

 
Just a minute or two on a low-temperature barby.

A piece of white bread and you're done!  It's probably one of the mildest fish flavours you'll experience.  Tasty.  Locals (and me) prefer it with just a dab of mint sauce.

Handheld whitebait nets.  This river mouth was surrounded by a small enclave of fishing shacks, which fill up with fishermen during whitebait season.

And then we stopped for the night at a nicely-equipped camper park in Haast, the end of our west coast journey.  There's really nothing there except the Hard Antler Pub, which of course we had to check out.

Yes, it's a hunting/fishing joint, with a heavy presence of locals.  I can think of countless tiny towns in BC that would go to great lengths to have a pub like this.

Lots and lots of antlers on the rafters (and everywhere else), along with thick, heavy wood-slab tables and a nice patio out the back.  You could do a lot worse.