Let’s go to Wanaka and see ‘that tree’!

After what was probably the most extreme day of our lives thus far (jumping off a suspended bridge and all), we woke up pretty well and headed to Wanaka.

Along the way we attempted to visit some wineries, after all they were scattered alongside the entire highway. However after stopping in three and realising you had to pay if you wanted to taste, we kept on moving without any wine. Unfortunately Alex and I are slightly spoilt with the Swan Valley and Margaret River Region in Western Australia, and as such we don’t like to pay to try.

It was a lovely drive through the windy roads, coasted by vineyards and fruit plantations.

We arrived in Wanaka in the afternoon, very much in need of food! We first did the usual grocery shopping and then after all hangrilly being unable to agree on somewhere to eat, found a dingy pub and went in. We waited what felt like hours for our food, and then ate it way too fast once it arrived, but it served us right for waiting so long. I can say that now but then I was blaming the food.

Then it was time to whiteness the famous Wanaka tree. For anyone who is unaware, Wanaka has become Instagram famous because of a tree that grows in the lake. Of course Wanaka has and is famous on its own accord because its absolutely amazing, but for those who had never known of the small town, due to this tree and pictures of it, so many people from around the world now visit it. And we joined them, trying to stand out from the crowd just a little.

Even though it was a gloomy day, the snow tipped mountains in the distance, the tree and then the still water created a wonderful scenery to whiteness. Even if it was freezing cold and raining.

After our site seeing, with our previous days activities still fresh on our minds, we went back to rest for a while. Once a few hours passed it was then time to see some friends. A lady Alex had worked with in Perth had in fact moved back to New Zealand and to the town of Wanaka. Her and her fiance came to pick us and take us to a bar. With an array of beers and cocktails we heard about their move there, and their new house being build, whilst we told them about our trip and all the places we’d seen thus far.  In the middle of this, Alex realised we had both somehow forgotten to grab the car keys, had incidentally left them in the ignition along with everything of ours #opps. Not to worry, Alex went along with his friend and the car was there, as was our stuff all untouched. Good old safe New Zealand!

Afterwards when they came back and all was well, we in fact got to see their block and walk through their ‘almost’ home.

It was a wonderful afternoon spent catching up/meeting, in a completely different part of the world, just showing how accessible travel is and sometimes how small the world can be these days, in the best way possible.

The rest of our day was spent enjoying the sun set, cooking dinner in an epic indoors campers kitchen and then watched a movie whilst sitting in awesome sofa chairs for the first time in a while. We were enjoying Wanaka for way more than just the tree!

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