That Wanaka tree!
Once we made it to Wanaka we immediately knew this was a place we wish we would have had more time to explore. It was a small ski town, very similar to Queenstown but more quaint. For Thanksgiving dinner we had burritos and tacos from a food truck (very delicious and so Thanksgivingy). We walked around the lake in town and checked out the famous Wanaka tree (a tree coming out of the middle of the lake - so weird!). After our short town in Wanaka we headed on the road again, this time our next destination was Franz Josef which was about 4 and a half hours away. A Wanakaian (or maybe Wanakan?!) asked me where we were headed next - when I told him Franz Josef he said, "Ahh the place where rain is made." And boy did we learn that. Most of the drive this day it rained - and it dumped buckets after we arrived in town. We tried to see both the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers however it was too cloudy and overcast to see anything. I guess our lucky streak with the weather had finally run out. The front desk guy at our hotel showed me a picture of the glacier in the lobby, so I guess that'll have to do.
We woke up the next morning and watched a bit of the Apple Cup (and that is all I'll say on that subject...) and then headed out on the road to our next stopover - a tiny little village called St Arnaud. Driving through the countryside we couldn't believe the number of sheep! An endless amount! Someone told us at one time it was 40 million sheep to 4 million people in New Zealand and I believe it. We have also seen a ton of cows and a good amount of deer! In the little town of St Arnaud we stayed at a bed and breakfast with a great woman named Helen. She lived in a beautiful southwestern style house...only 100 meters from a fault line (eeeek!). Apart from that, she talked to us about her town (350 people), the recent earthquake, her sheep and goats, Trump (eeeek!), birds, and taught us about Maori culture and some of their language. It was really fun to stay with a local and learn a lot about New Zealand from her. It wasn't until here that we started seeing affects from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the northeast corner of the South island on November 14th. Due to damage to Highway 1 (the country's main highway) the road through St. Arnaud became a detour for all traffic headed north, causing a lot of changes for this little village. We also began to see (and feel) lots of pot holes and signs of road construction, which Helen told us to expect driving further north.
After our fun stay in St. Arnaud we headed for Picton - where the next day we would catch the ferry to Wellington, on the North Island. In Picton (when there was a break in the rain) we headed up to a lookout called Karaka to see the views of the water. It was beautiful! Picton was a cute town right on the water and we covered all the shops in about an hour.
On November 28th we boarded our ferry to the North island, which looked like a cruise ship! It was massive! We walked in the bottom of the boat and there were huge semi trucks and cars lined up to be taken over. Once we got inside, there was a movie theatre, cafe, dining area, kids room, and a couple observation decks. Quite a nice set up for the 3 hour ride over to the North island!
Highlights:
1. Wanaka - definitely somewhere I'd like to go back to!
2. Staying with Helen in St. Arnaud.
3. Enjoying the Karaka lookout in Picton with the sun out!
Lessons Learned:
1. After spending so much time with one person in the car, they are bound to hear your belting-it-because-im-in-the-car-alone voice. Sorry, Allie.
2. They don't like road shoulders here in New Zealand.
3. The scenery while driving is just spectacular - I must sound like a broken record because I keep saying "It's so pretty" over and over again.
4. After searching high and low for kiwi birds, a lady in a tourist shop told us they are nocturnal. Face to palm.
View from Karaka Lookout.
New Zealand driving scenery.