The Road to Wanaka, New Zealand                                               March 18, 2002

With so many things to do in Christchurch, it took a visit from our former Wisconsin roommates, Marge, Judy and Al, to get us out on the road again.  THEY only had 10 days in New Zealand (nowhere near enough time,) so after showing off Christchurch, we headed to Queenstown and Milford Sound, hoping the weather would permit us to later venture to the West Coast and the Glaciers.

The drive to QTown from CHCH is scenic (like most New Zealand drives.)  We stopped at one of my favorites views, Lake Tepako, and later took a short break in the tussock country.  Tussock grass for some reason makes me feel good: perhaps because it reminds me of our friends and our many happy years in California. 

Having left CHCH early and made several stops along the way (including Hackett's first-ever bungy jump site at the old Kawarau River bridge where we relived Dick's bungy jump of 2000) suppertime found us in Queenstown, otherwise known as Adventureland.  A beer at a lakeside bistro, a scrumptious meal, a go-round with the slot machines at the local casino (Al and Marge winning handsomely on the penny slots), and a missing person incident (you'll have to ask Judy for details), got us set for the next day's long bus trip to Milford Sound.

The 6:45 a.m. pickup came way too soon, but if you're going to and from Fiordland in a single day, you've got to start early.  It's nice to take the bus and let someone else drive and, not incidentally, provide interesting commentary.  The forecast was for torrential rains at Milford Sound, and if we had planned to drive ourselves, we surely would not have gone.  As it turned out, luck was on our side, and only a few brief showers materialized.  The views of the countryside and the fiords from the boat were excellent, though there were far fewer waterfalls than on our last visit.  We returned to QTown at 7:20 p.m. having watched a couple of episodes of "Fawlty Towers" en route provided to, I suspect, keep us from noticing that the bus was barely moving as it tried to progress up the steeper grades.  There was just enough time for dinner and another casino visit (with Al once again victorious.)   Sure, it's a hard life, but we try to suffer quietly.

Central Otago, the district that encompasses QTown, is wine country, and Al, who had the most Kiwi beers under his belt by this time, didn't want to leave the area without tasting some of the local vintage.  We stopped at a busy winery, with ambiance -- nice wooden tables on a shaded outdoor patio.  The local cheese maker was also offering tastes.  Five cheeses and eight wines later, we weren't overly impressed with any of the offerings.  Still, it was a lovely warm afternoon in the sun, shared with delightful friends.

Feeling good, we headed north to Wanaka via Arrowtown and Millbrook Golf Resort.  Wanaka sits on the shores of a clear large lake, surrounded by mountains (photo above.)  It's the gateway to the Mt. Aspiring National Park and mostly a farmer's town.  This particular Saturday, Wanaka was hosting it's annual farm fair.  The fair seemed to have mostly horse events -- showings, hurdle jumping, and buggy races.  Of course there were also merchandise tents.  One woman who had previously worked at a panty factory was selling her own home-made ones.  So timely, since one of us had run out of clean undies!

The fair, though an unexpected pleasure meant rooms and dinner reservations were at a premium.  We were fortunate to get both, though at a price. 

The next morning the weather was brilliant, the necessary indicator for pushing on into the Haast Pass toward the West Coast and the Glaciers.

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