21 December 2024 -New Zealand- South Island -Lake Wanaka

We slept well and woke at a reasonable time as we were going Quad Biking nearby. We had breakfast overlooking the lake and the town of Wanaka and we are on the outskirts in our hotel.

Wanaka is New Zealand's fourth-largest lake and the seat of the town of Wānaka in the Otago region. The lake is 278 meters above sea level, covers 192 km2 (74 sq mi), and is more than 300 m (980 ft) deep.

"Wānaka" is the South Island dialect pronunciation of wānanga, which means "the lore of the tohunga or priest” or a place of learning. Lake Wanaka lies at the heart of the Otago Lakes in the lower South Island of New Zealand. The township of Wanaka, which sits in a glacier-carved basin on the shores of the lake, is the gateway to Mt Aspiring National Park. Lake Hāwea is a 15-minute drive away, en route to the frontier town of Makarora, the last stop before the West Coast Glacier region. To the south is the historic Cardrona Valley, a popular scenic alpine route to neighbouring Queenstown.

At its greatest extent, which is roughly along a north–south axis, the lake is 42 kilometres long. Its widest point, at the southern end, is 10 kilometres. The lake's western shore is lined with high peaks rising to over 2000 metres above sea level. Along the eastern shore the land is also mountainous, but the peaks are somewhat lower.

The lake is now a popular resort, and is much used in the summer for fishing, boating and swimming. The nearby mountains and fast-flowing rivers support adventure tourism year-round. Popular activities include alpine and cross-country skiing and snowsports, tramping, mountain-biking, mountaineering, rock-climbing and parapenting.

After breakfast we drive along the Cardrona Valley Road toward Queenstown to where the Quad Biking was based which was out in the valleys some 13 miles from Wanaka and Cardrona used to be a gold mining town. The weather was unfortunately grey and there was the odd spit of rain.  

We came to a farm with the Quad Biking and horse-riding signs. We turned off and as we did there was a fence covered in bras!! It was to raise money for breast cancer. Our quad bike place was ready for us and Jules and we had our own guide Alex who was from the Isle of Man!! We had to put on waterproofs -top and bottom, a helmet and gloves. Once we had been given instructions we headed out into a meadow where they checked we could ride the quad bikes and then we headed out up the mountain. It could have been like the lowlands of Scotland. It was green and brown with little bushes and rises up looking quite austere. The cloud was on the top of its ridge and was drifting down into the valley a little.

We followed a track up the hill which had the occasional stream crossing it and the terrain was quite rough and undulating. The bikes took it well with individual suspension for each wheel and you had to take care as you went into dips and out the other side. However, it was not difficult ad we climbed steadily causing sheep and the odd hare to scatter. We stopped at a ridge to have a break. The views were great and would have been better if the sun was out.  

We carried on up to the cloud point where Alex thought it would be better to stop as we would be unlikely to break above the cloud. We therefore traversed across the hill until we came to a dirt track road and then made our way down and back to the ranch. It had been an interesting and enjoyable trip and a good experience.

After this we drove on to Cardrona which is a little mining town and they have kept the hotel and a few shops as it was and it was quite quaint. We then drove back to Wanaka and went to the airport just outside as we have booked a return flight to Milford Sound and a boat trip. We wanted to check about the weather and when they would go/not go. They were very helpful and explained that Milford Sound has about 9 meters of rain a year (one of the 4 wettest places on earth) whereas Wanaka only some 80 miles away has about 650mm each year of rain. Essentially, we will ring on the morning and see what the situation is. They only fly when they can stay out of cloud.

We returned to Wanaka and had some lunch and bought some provisions. We chilled and had some tea and then cooked our own supper as our room had those facilities. We walked off our supper and will see what the weather holds tomorrow.

The picture of the day is us on our quad bikes.

Stormbird

I heard no more today so am sure all is well and she is waiting for us to return.

Opportunity Year Two

In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com