Waterfalls, Bikes and Olympians

After careful consideration of the weather this week, we decided to take advantage of a sunny forecast and drove 3.5 hrs to the resort town of Wanaka. It's the local’s alternative to Queenstown, but it too has gotten more touristy in recent years.

I won't lie- the drive was hard; we were all bickering when we got there and glad to get out of the car. We stretched our legs window-shopping camping supplies stores and then had an expensive, sub-par burger from a take-out place, paying the extra dollar for one packet of Heinz ketchup!

The nice German tourist who took this for us said, "Now look like you are happy to be here!"

The next day made it all worthwhile, for that’s when we hiked to Rob Roy Glacier. The shuttle from town was pricey and bumpy, but a great way to see the surrounding countryside. There were lots of sheep, some cows and even deer, and rising out of the flat pasture were surprising mountains speckled with waterfalls! Yet I was most struck by the dramatic pruning of the hedgerows. 

The first part of the hike was flat, led past a scary bellowing and hoof-stomping black bull, and took us to a long, swinging foot bridge. 

Once across, it was an hour scramble up roots and rocks. It was tough going both physically and emotionally, but we were regularly startled into a good mood again by a new incredible view. 

An early stunning view from the trail

Can you believe the color of the glacier-fed stream?!?

The end of the path was truly breathtaking and washed away all of the angst of the previous 24 hours: the blue glaciers glowing at the top, feeding literally dozens of waterfalls.

The trek down was euphoric. Even Jeremy got a second wind and practically ran down.

The view from the bridge on the way down

This amazing day was topped off with Jeremy landing his first front flip on the trampoline that was at our motel (yes, you read that right- no litigious culture here).

The next day was now projected to be rainy; apparently the mountains make accurate forecasts impossible. But after breakfast there was a break in the clouds, so we decided to take a chance on mountain bike rentals. 

Despite Fran’s minor crash on the way back (she’s okay), it was super fun pedaling along the trail that bordered the lake.

My favorite part of the ride was an obligatory visit to #thatwanakatree: a fence post that had grown roots and later stranded in water as the dam raised the level of the lake. It’s the backdrop of wedding photos daily. Jeremy said that I acted with this tree like I do when I see puppies.

After returning our bikes, we returned downtown for a parade to welcome home Olympians Nico and Zoi; the first Kiwis to win medals in 26 years, and only the second and third ever for winter games for New Zealand! Both grew up and trained here and both are an astonishing 16 years old.

The enthusiastic but definitely small-town celebration was heart-warming. Cheering with the crowd, balloons in hand, for the first time, we actually started to feel like Kiwis.

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