Our Journey to the Southern Tip (Part 2)

It’s true, we celebrated Chanukah in Wanaka.  (Just wait till we tell Adam Sandler!).  We were lucky enough to be with Rebecca, Eric, Eli and Tessa back in December for both Chanukah and Christmas.

Getting back to where we left off on our previous holiday post, after we left the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers, we stayed in a little eco resort on the West Coast near Lake Moeraki.  We had a great day hike, guided by the resort’s owner, through jungle down to the beach where we surprised a few sunning seals.

 

 

Our guides served us hot tea and chocolate on the beach before we headed back up into the bush, aided by ladders and ropes built into the rock.

We enjoyed a nighttime walk to see glow worms (tiny little creatures with luminescent poo) and hear the lore of the brilliant southern hemisphere stars.  We had a great view of the Southern Cross, the Milky Way and much more.

We then packed up and headed to Wanaka, a hot sunny lakeside town amidst mountains.  On our way, we found a perfect hidden waterfall for lunch and viewed the clear vibrant blue pools nearby.

We settled into a charming house we had rented in Wanaka.  It was a little funny observing Christmas and Chanukah in hot sunny weather with the sun setting at ten o’clock.  But we made the most of it with a homemade menorah crafted from driftwood and seashells, a Rosecrafted star to top our tree, Hazelmade presents for everyone, and a steak dinner.

We visited a fun puzzling museum in Wanaka full of great visual illusions.  Thank goodness that tower didn’t fall!

Then we hiked up Rocky Mountain, a little hill overlooking Lake Wanaka with views of neighboring snow capped mountains.  Unused to hot sunny weather as we are on the West Coast, we didn’t bring enough water and all were ready to return to the car to share the one hot water bottle we had left behind.  We won’t make that mistake again!

Then it was off to Queenstown, so called adventure capital of New Zealand.  No, we didn’t do any bungy jumping or zip lining.  But we did try our hand at the Luge at the top of the gondola on Bob’s Peak.  Some of us could have used a few more practice runs but luckily nobody got hurt and we all looked pretty cute in our standard issue safety helmets (no, we weren’t sky diving, that’s just our silly iPhone photo not loading rightside up!).

Then we escaped the mayhem and hiked a mere 10 minutes into the woods to feel like we were in the middle of nowhere with beautiful views across Lake Wakatipu to the Remarkables, the mountain range that towers over Queenstown.

We bid our goodbyes to the cousins and headed farther South to continue our adventures.  Up next: the vomit comet and more waterfalls than tour buses, thank goodness!