Day 54/72: Kayaking and Queenstown

Glorious morning! We got up and stood on the rocks looking out over the lake in the sun, eating breakfast and feeling very pleased with the view. We then had a quick stretching session before we left to spend the most part of the day in Wanaka.

Went down to the lake and hired a double kayak for a couple of hours. We paddled out over the clear still water to an island in the middle of the lake. On the way we passed the Wanaka tree and took our own photos and smiled for all the photos that we got in the way of. We landed on the island just as a couple of people were leaving, and then we were the only ones there! It was a 20 minute wander around with some of the greatest views of the lake and surrounding mountains. It was lovely and we paddled steadily back, Izzi steering us all over the place ("it's much harder than it looks, why isn't it going that way!?"). We got back and parked the kayak superbly in reverse onto the bank.

We then wandered into the town again to browse some shops and have lunch (cheese scone, lamb and mint pie and a steak and cheese pie) which was delicious. We then decided to head back to the van and go onwards with our journey to Glenorchy for the next days activities. On the way we stopped to have a very cold swim in the lake to wake ourselves up after feeling a bit hot and stuffy. On the way we drove past the most beautiful rivers of clear blue water and fields of flowers in a variety of pinks and purples (Lupins I've been told), with a backdrop of huge rocky mountains and deep green forests, it's incredible here.

As we drove on we decided to stop in Queenstown for the night and head up to Glenorchy in the morning. This was a great shout as we scouted out the campsite we were going to be staying in after Christmas and it turns out it's very pleasant. Another lovely day in New Zealand well spent!Read more