Christmas Wanaka
On Christmas Eve morning we woke up to sunshine and sandflies at the Kidds Bush campsite just outside of Wanaka. After a bowl of oatmeal (our camping staple), we drove through a cow pasture, next to the lake, listening to our only Christmas tape, and singing along to a very odd disco version of "Jingle Bells".
When we arrived at the Wanaka Bakpaka which overlooked the lake, we settled in by doing laundry and getting in some internet time. While reading e-mails from home, we started a conversation with the girl next to us who turned out to be from Portland. We were both looking at pictures of snow piled up around the Northwest.
Well, ther was no snow in Wanaka! It was sunny and lovely, so we decided to take advantage of a summer Christmas Eve and went to the beach. We enjoyed some take away fish and chips and cold beers, and we even took a swim! Once we'd had our fill of beach time, back to Wanaka Bakpaka to clean up and head into town.
In Wanaka, "town" refers to a main street that follows the water front. This street is lined with cafes and restaurants and bars, so we naturally found ourselves enjoying Kai Bar with the locals. Having only spent Christmas Eves with family and never at a "hot spot," we were surprised to see a lot of locals (and visitors) sipping drinks while some guys with guitars and bongos played their own brand of Christmas music on the corner. We noticed patrons that had to stand with beers in hand, so we offered our seats and decided to head back to the hostel again. But instead of giving our seats away, we ended up chatting with some New Zealanders visiting Wanaka from out of town. They were so friendly - definitely spreading some Christmas spirit.
On the walk back to the hostel we stopped to take pictures next to Wanaka's Christmas tree. There was a neon green light shining on it from the street.
Christmas morning started with a pretty late sleep-in followed by phone calls to say "Merry Christmas Eve" to everyone back home. We had a breakfast of fried ham, cheesey eggs with peppers and tomatoes, and toast. Delicious. We followed our heavy meal with a walk up Mt. Iron and enjoyed another dose of sun.
With little plans for the day and no stores or businesses open, we stayed at the hostel and made friends with the other guests. We had a BBQ that evening: chicken skewers, coleslaw, asparagus, and rice. Also delicious. About the only similarity between Christmas in New Zealand and at home is that we ate well. After dinner we met a guy from Auckland who was biking around the south island on his holiday break, which - by the way - is about 2-3 weeks for most Kiwis. He showed us the Southern Cross constellation and asked if we'd help him lighten his biking load. He'd been carrying around a heavy bottle of vodka and hoped we'd have some drinks with him. We did and it was a very merry Christmas.
