Situated north of Queenstown is a small town on Lake Wanaka named after the large blue lake. It is a town with a modern feel, and plenty of things for active people to do. We were fortunate to be able to stay in one place for a week. In that time we were able to spend time hiking in several areas as well as do scenic drives. Within a few minutes of our resort there were three wineries, a distillery and a few places to taste New Zealand craft beers. There are things for families, young people, and old folks to do. On our outings, it was not uncommon to see three generations of tourists walking the trails or picnicking together.
While we were in Wanaka, just north and west of us in The Franz Josef National Park area, they experienced a 100 year flood that wiped out a bridge and stranded people on the west coast. Click here to see some amazing video of the collapse shown in the news in New Zealand. We were lucky. Where we were, it rained hard during the night but the sun broke through the clouds in the morning. It was a lazy day for us, but we did meet interesting people around the pool and went out for a delicious meal in town. A couple of days later, knowing we could not make it all the way to Franz Josef Glacier, we traveled up over the Haast Pass to the west coast to visit the area of the northern part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site we could not access from the road to Milford Sound. The drive was slower than usual. Mud slides had partially covered the road in some stretches and in other places part of the road had washed away. In those locations, the road had to be reduced to a single lane in order to be passable and safe. I felt sorry for the tourists that had made plans to go to the glacier or were trapped, and for the residents and businesses that were impacted by the flooding and washed out bridge. Mother Nature is a powerful force. We were told by park authorities that it would be safe to go as far as the bridge, and we would still see beautiful scenery; but the water in the rivers would be full of silt and therefore not as pretty. On the plus side, there would be many more temporary waterfalls flowing from the steep mountains.
To see some of the images taken during the seven days we were in Wanaka click here. I wish I had time to tell you about each of the photos and why they were included. On the last day in Wanaka, we decided to hike up Rob Roy Mountain Track. As we approached the top third of the strenuous climb; in a case of “its a small world” I stopped to ask a young couple coming down the mountain, how much further we had to go and would it be worth it. I noticed that the young man was wearing a shirt that made me realize he and I had a common interest. It turned out, we were from the same state and he coached one of the sports I coached. Even though he was much younger, we started to realize we knew many of the same people and when I told him where I taught and coached, he said in a surprised tone, that is were his newlywed wife and hiking partner had gone to school. She was in the same class as one of my sons. I should have taken a picture of the cute couple on their honeymoon adventure. It would have made a good photo for our alumni publication. I did tell them I would mention the story in my blog though. I appreciate the encouragement they gave us to get to the top. The view was pretty spectacular.
The photo that goes with this post is neither my wife and I, nor the newlywed couple…just a couple being romantic near the top of the hike. I took the photo from a slightly higher vantage point. As you might guess the spot was an extremely popular place to take selfies. I had to wait nearly an hour to photograph my wife on that point.