Day 26 and 27 - Wanaka
NEW ZEALAND | Wednesday, 24 November 2010 | Views [649] | Comments [3]
Sun coming up, with moon over the mountains, as seen from our room at Wanaka
These two days were very relaxing, starting with a drive from Te Anau north to the high plateua town of Wanaka, on the shore of Lake Wanaka. On the way, we stopped at Arrowtown, and saw the preserved remains of a 19th Century Chinese town occupied by gold miners, Chinese peasants with dreams of hitting it big, and returning to China as wealthy men. When we got to Wanaka, we discovered that it's actually pretty high and pretty dry, probably the driest area we've seen so far in News Zealand. There is a lot of skiing activity in the winter, and lots of hiking and natural beauty viewing during the rest of the year. We had some pretty good pizza for dinner on the first night (we were just afraid to try the Indian restaurant in town), and next morning, we were greeted by a beautiful sunrise with juxtaposed moon low over the mountains. We walked in the national park for a few hours today, alongside a river and a lake, then had a pretty good steak for dinner. (This afternoon, they played the town's air raid siren for a few minutes at the time of the second mine explosion and the announcement of the death of the 29 miners. A national tragedy, for sure, and we are actually headed to that very area in two days, so we'll experience it up close.) Tomorrow, onward to Fox Glacier.
