Greetings from stunning Wanaka. I do start to wonder if there is anything about this country which is not beautiful. (no exageration)... We had quite a long bus ride yesterday from Franz Josef Glacier to Wanaka and along with it a dramatic change in scenary. Whilst the first hald of the trip was dominated by rainforrest and the beautiful coast it became more rocky as we moved land inwards. We crossed the Haast pass and eventually started getting the beuatiful view of Lake Wanaka. I went for a walk around the lacke yesterday on the quest for that beautiful photo that my flatmate Catherine had taken when she was here not too long ago... and I did find it a tree in the lake ..in the background the mountain scenary. I will put some new photos on facebook soon. In Wanaka I also finally had my first good night sleep meaning the jetlag days are over whooo hooooo. :) The rest of my group went on to Queenstown today but I decided to stay in Wanaka for an extra day... most of the people on the bus are quite a bit younger at some Adrenaline junkies which is why the are keen to get to the next stop : queenstown where you can bungie jump and do all sorts of crazy stuff. As for me I went for a hike this morning and boy do I lack fitness. some heavy breathing as I was trying to roll myself up that steep climb... haha I thought : oh oh Machu Picchu is only like 3 months away how am I going to get up there. haha So I shall engage in more athletic activity this afternoon. I am planning on renting a bike and having a cycle around the lake.
The people here are lovely, on my way home I got friendly good mornings and in general everyone is super friendly besides that ex military Glacier guide which was the complete opposite.. whops.. I am also amazed how clean everything is over here. Its like an unspoken rule that you are going to take your rubbish with you and not dump it outside.
Tomorrow I am off to Queenstown where I have a free day then will be doing 2 day trips to Doubtul Sound and Milford sound which are supposed to be the absolute highlights of New Zealand.. exciting!
Hope you are all well!
Stef
