Back in Wanaka

11 days ago we were in the town of Wanaka after completing the first day of our bike rides. At that time we were all staggered at the natural beauty of this place. The only problem with such astounding scenery is that is does attract hordes of visiting tourists. Wanaka is no exception.

We left Haast this morning in continual heavy rain. The rain continued for several hours as we made our way down the west coast, only clearing when we reached Wanaka.

On our first visit here we had lunch at a lovely bakery at nearby Albertown. We thought it would be good to go there again. Obviously about 500 others (mostly cyclists) had the same idea. When I walked to the counter I found that everything in the bakery had been sold. I am not kidding; the entire display cases were empty. Some days are like that.

We had no alternative other than to continue to Wanaka and see if there were any pies or sausage rolls to be had there. Fortunately the Wanaka Bakery still had adequate supplies, so we did not go hungry after all.

After lunch we checked into the Haka House Backpackers Hostel. I was a little apprehensive that I might have made a big mistake and that we would find ourselves in some huge dormitory full of drunken and noisy backpackers. It was not like that at all. We found the place was brand new and very modern Our room even had a private bathroom and we did not have to share our bed with the other backpackers after all.Read more