Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Day 5 (Mar 10, 2013): Wanaka and Queenstown


The Quick Facts:

* Drove to Wanaka, which is a “baby Queenstown” and the access point to Mt. Aspiring National Park
* Hiked the 775m Rocky Mountain
* Went for a swim in the chilly waters of Lake Wanaka
* Drove to Queenstown, where we took in some of the local culture

The Good:

* Wanaka is a cute town that is much less trafficked than Queenstown
* Availability of hikes in the Wanaka area is outstanding
* Had a Ferg Berger (the Shake Shack / In N Out equivalent in NZ) – pretty good, albeit HUGE!

The Bad:

* Queenstown is very touristy, which is not unexpected but figured I’d mention it nonetheless

Our main activity for the day was a ~3 hour hike up Rocky Mountain, which provides spectacular views of Diamond Lake, Lake Wanaka and Glendhu Bay.  This is the "before" picture (we are headed to highest point, which is 775m up)


And this is the "after" picture:


And here is everything else in between:







We even had a picnic lunch at the top...


And I got closer to my sheep!


After our hike we went for a swim in Lake Wanaka (that's Carrie doing her best Hulk Hogan pose)






Once in Queenstown, Carrie encountered some problems with a duck who was eyeballing her ice cream cone!




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