It was another sunny day, so we drove up to Wanaka to visit LOTR sites. On our way, we stopped at three roadside lookouts around Cromwell, as well as taking in the sights from one of the many wineries. The area around Cromwell was first known for its goldfields (initial strikes in the 1860s) before summer fruit and wine came to the forefront. We continued up the east side of Lake Dunstan to check out a couple of LOTR sites near Tarras, but we couldn't confirm the exact location since we had left our LOTR book at home. We thought we could see one of the sites (Eowyn's Ride to the Ford with Frodo) from the road, but we had to use our imagination. The drive to Wanaka was wonderful (again reinforcing its similarities with Colorado) and the town itself had a lovely lakeside setting. The wind was howling off the lake, but was bearable if we weren't right alongside the water. We stopped at Glendhu Bay to admire the scenery and the crystal clear water. We continued up the road a bit, but not too far since we were low on gas. We saw a couple of nice waterfalls and the LOTR site (the rugged country south of Rivendell, Boromir teaching the Hobbits to use their swords, the birds coming to spy on the Fellowship) before turning around. We decided that we need to come back for a longer visit as we truly enjoyed the alpine landscape and mountains.
