Let's Take a Walk.

We only had a day in Wanaka so we used it to the fullest. After our hike, we ran to our CUTEST LITTLE HOTEL and unpacked things. Then we took a walk around Lake Wanaka. My goodness it was lovely. Can you tell?

xoxo

Hiking in WANAKA.

Our first afternoon in Wanaka, we didn't know what to do except that we wanted to do a hike. So we stopped by the Dept of Conservation and they gave us a map and pointed out a hike. And off we went! It was a beautiful day, and we found ourselves taking off our jackets and sweating a little bit (in NZ winter weather!). The views were worth the steep hike.

Good talks, good views, good people. :)

xoxo

A morning in Wanaka.

When we drove into Wanaka, we found a seemingly sleepy, little town. While small, it's definitely not sleepy. People were at the lake laying on the beach, eating at the lake-side restaurants, hiking. Whit and I parked near the lake and while we were grabbing our things, a man walked up to our car and pointed out our flat tire. We hadn't even noticed anything wrong with the tire, but it was indeed flat. He refused to not help us and got to work on changing our tire. Luckily our rental car had a spare tire. Our Spanish friend saved our day, and he found us later to take a photo with him.

Then we made our way to lunch. We found a waterfront restaurant and ordered burgers and fries. Oh do I miss New Zealand fries. And their tomato-shaped ketchup bottles.

Is that lake not the most lovely thing?

xoxo

Welcome to Wanaka

On our last two days in the South Island, Whit & I decided to branch out of Queenstown and head over to Wanaka. It's only an hours drive away & it's a trendy little town on a gorgeous lake. Of course there are mountains everywhere. We stopped at a scenic overlook & took some photos then headed into town.

We got lunch & then decided to hike up to another scenic view. It wasn't too long, but we definitely broke a sweat. Such a good day. At the top we laid down on benches and closed our eyes. It's peaceful when you're only surrounded by mountains and lakes and silence... until the children came and we stretched and moved on. Ha.

I am starting to get really homesick for this country.

xoxo

Milford PT 2

Thankfully I utilized my DSLR on the day we went to Milford Sound. Because the beauty deserved higher quality than my iPhone could offer. So many photos. They don't do it justice at all, of course.

Anyway, we saw waterfalls, we drank from glacier streams, we saw seals, we reveled in New Zealand beauty. Hard to get away from it, honestly. :)

This day worked out so perfectly.

xoxo

Hey, Milford Sound.

On the third day in the South Island we took a bus to Milford Sound. This was one of those fateful days that just worked out. We'd heard a lot of conflicting things about going to Milford, and I was positive we weren't going to be able to go. It's a must-do in the south island, but it is so hard to get to. In fact most of my friends in NZ said the times they tried to go, the road was closed. So imagine being able to go AND it being the most beautiful day ever.

Also, the joy of tour buses was that we got to stop a bunch on the way and see pretty cool things.

Guys, there is nothing in the world like Milford Sound. Nothing.

More photos in next post.

xoxo