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Our plan this morning is to take the car before Jake and Amanda wake, to drive a couple of miles down the road to the Lake Matheson Cafe, per the recommendation of Mike, the proprietor of the Lake Matheson Motel. He also mentioned that the cafe offers wonderful views of Lake Matheson and the Fox Glacier. As we begin to leave our room for the cafe, a gentleman with an American accent asks if we are checking out, to which we say, "not quite yet". We strike up a conversation with him, and it turns out he is retired Air Force, living in Tulsa, and he and his wife do work/travel 6 months out of the year. They use a couple of websites to investigate places to stay and their hosts: workaway.info and helpx.net It sounds like a wonderful way to travel - working 4-5 hours a day for room and board in exotic (and not so exotic) places. Mmmm... maybe someday.
Well, Rose takes the wheel, and successfully negotiates driving on the left side to get us to the cafe. Unfortunately, we strike out on our breakfast plans. Firstly, the cafe has a line out the door - we are not going to wait to eat breakfast when we've got other sightseeing to do. Secondly, it is a foggy, overcast morning, and we have no view of either the lake or the glacier from the cafe. We return to the motel and Jake and Amanda are pretty much ready to get back on the road. We stop at a little market for coffee and light snack, and then it's back to the mountainous driving.
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| Lake Wanaka |
We only have approximately 4-5 hours of driving to do today, so we are more amenable to stopping at lookouts and other points of interest. Our first stop is at a nice waterfall tucked in the woods. It is a very short hike, and we are treated to a good sized, thin but tall waterfall (and I am treated to a few dozen mosquito bites). We get a few photos, and return to the car. We stop at a couple of other mountain lookouts, before we get to the "mother" of all lookout spots: one that includes mountains and palm trees in the same frame. We get a group shot here and linger for several minutes - what a gorgeous spot!
We also stop at a place called the "Blue Pools" just outside of our destination of Wanaka. To get to the blue pools, we hike for about 10 minutes, which includes a traverse of a long swinging bridge (capacity 10 people). The pools are a beautiful glacial blue color (hence the name) and are tucked away in what appears to be another rocky flood plain. There are several stacks of stones erected by prior visitors strewn all about. There also happens to be a plethora of flat stones here, ideal for skipping. Jake proves to be quite adept, and records a record 15 skips, prior to the stone crossing the stream.
We arrive in Wanaka early in the afternoon. We are staying at the Bella Vista motel, and we have adjacent rooms just like yesterday, Wanaka is a resort town, which is busy in the summer as well as the winter, as it is near some snow skiiing. Lake Wanaka lies between the town and the mountains and not lots of restaurants and bars in town, mostly concentrated close to the lake. Our motel is conveniently located in town, only a couple of blocks away from the beach.
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| Lake Wanaka |
Collectively we decide that we will go our separate ways this afternoon. Rose throws a load of clothes in the wash at the motel, and Jake and Amanda catch up on some much needed rest. After our clothes are washed, and dried, we go for a walk around town, looking for a bite to eat and a beer to drink (preferably with a nice view). Several bars and restaurants are serving drinks but are not yet offering food service (most not til 5 or 6 pm - it is 4 o'clock now). After checking several places out, we decide to order "take away" and eat it at our motel room. I order a salmon sandwich, while Rose opts for a pork-belly sandwich. After placing our order, we walk a block over to the Cole's Supermarket in town, and purchase a six pack of beer and a bottle of wine. We return to the carryout place just as they finish making our order. Now it’s back to the motel room for a relaxing dining experience… Except, there is only one chair in the room, so we sit at the table out on the porch outside of our room. It was very windy at this spot, making it difficult to keep everything (especially napkins) together. Then, Rose realizes that pork belly is mostly fat and is very disappointed with her choice. Well, at least the beer tasted good ; )
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| Lake Wanaka |
Jake and Amanda ask us about our dining plans just as we finish our disappointing meal. Amanda has done some research using her Zomato app (formerly Urbanspoon), and they decide to check out an Indian food restaurant in town. Well, they choose wisely, as they both ordered the venison curry and LOVED it! Rose and I spend the evening at the beach, taking some pictures, but the windy conditions detract from our enjoyment. When we return to our motel room, we turn the TV on for the first time in over a week. Earlier in the day we had heard of the death of Glenn Frye of the Eagles, and there was a special documentary of the Eagles being broadcast. It was fascinating to watch, and left us with a much greater appreciation of the music of this great band of the 70’s.
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