On the morning of June 28th we set out toward Lake Hawea - just a short 4 km from where we were staying at Te Awa Lodge - looking to get a lakeside hike in on our last day in town. We hopped onto the Gladstone Track - which follows along the lakefront, out of town. The trail is apparently part of Te Araroa a 3000 km long trail which stretches from the top of NZ's North Island at Cape Reinga in the North to the bottom of the South Island at Bluff. If it is not apparent - New Zealand has a nearly endless number of trails - at each turn a new one is discovered, and as in the case of Te Araroa many are not just a brief loop around the park.
The weather was overcast, as had been the case the entire time we had been in the Wanaka area due to an inversion layer they deal with off and on throughout the winter. But the clouds were thinning out a bit and the mountains framing lake Hawea were coming into view. The mist gave a bit of a Scotland vibe to the hike . . . always a good thing (provided it's not raining!). Along the way we passed what appeared to be the ultimate New Zealand lakeside home - situated on a rise above the lakefront with the Southern Alps in the background.
Hawea is a truly special place and community. Located just 12 minutes from Albert Town on the outskirts of Wanaka, Hawea has chosen a decidedly slower pace of life than its similarly situated neighbors.
- Queenstown, set on the banks of Lake Wakatipu, is a bustling little city of 120,386 residents - with an airport, hotels, and an international reputation for Adventure Sports - Queenstown is built right up against steep sided hills providing dramatic views from everywhere in town. Queenstown sees nearly a million visitors per year, and is humming with activity.
- Wanaka, set on a massive lake by the same name, in contrast has 16,000 residents and welcomes roughly 300,000 visitors per year. The town is more spread out and due to its smaller size has fewer options for dining and activities, but provides ample things to do and trails galore. Wanaka is growing though, with new developments popping up it is apparent that the town has been discovered by many looking for something beyond Queenstown.
- Hawea appears to be bucking the system - this town of 1860 residents is set on the breathtaking Lake Hawea and has only one small hotel, and a single restaurant which doubles as a General Store. From talking with several locals it sounds as though the town council has voted against development plans and is intent on keeping the area a rural small town.
It's pretty fascinating to pass through each of these towns and realize that all within roughly an hour of one another each represents distinctly different lifestyles and community choices set in equally stunning environments. The population of each is just a bit less than 10x smaller than the one before it - a striking difference in terms of how busy things feel.
On the short drive over to Wanaka we stopped by a trailhead where a cool swinging bridge crosses the Hawea River, prior to it emptying into the Clutha River. The water was running very high and fast but even with the water raging the river was incredibly clear when we looked over it from the bridge.
From there it was on to Wanaka to check out Eely Point Track - and the Sun had come out, making for some great pictures of Lake Wanaka. Eely Point has a little kids bike park, perfect for the youngest bikers around to learn how to balance on wooden boardwalks and go over bumps in the forest.
For our last night in Wanaka we had to go back to Francesca's. This time we opted to order pizza, which turned out to be the best wood fired pizza we've had anywhere in New Zealand. The restaurant is a bit reminiscent of Cassanova's in it's quality of offerings while still comfortably riding that line between being very family friendly but also being suitable for a nice dinner out. Alan, the Scottish owner, was at the restaurant - he hadn't been on our first stop in a few days earlier - and he walked right up to our table with a "you're back". He remembered without prompting that we were from Hawaii and had a zipline tour business - which was pretty impressive given it has been 3 months and they operate at capacity every night. In good Scottish fashion he proceeded to give me a hard time about my "Stay Rooted" hat, encouraging me to look up "root" in NZ slang, at the end of the night I let him know I'd bring him a hat next time we are in town!
The next day we took our time getting out the door, talking story with Graeme and Carolyn for a while. We asked about their (now grown) kids and Graeme told us how their son had attended a elite boarding school in England where the royal family goes, his path there was quite circuitous but apparently just a few weeks after landing in the UK he called his parents from Windsor Castle, as he had befriended a young Duke or some other such member of the royal family who he went to school with. They apparently maintain a friendship with some of members of the extended Royal family, some of whom have stayed with them there at Te Awa Lodge over the years.
Once we hit the road it was early afternoon and we headed to Nanny Goat Vineyards on our way toward the small town of Clyde. Nanny Goat is one of Sharyl's favorite NZ wineries that we've tried, so we needed to make a stop in there since it was on the way. The wine was excellent of course, and the Charcuterie board they presented us with was both stunning and huge! After our tasting we were low on gas so actually needed to head all the way back to Wanaka to fill up, pulling into the station on fumes. Google Maps had indicated there was a gas station not far from the winery, but upon asking the locals they said the station had been closed for several years. With our gas tank topped off we drove the hour to Clyde, pulling into our AirBnb in the late afternoon.
Sharyl had found a cute little cottage just two blocks from Clyde's Main Street. In the yard was a fenced in chicken coup which River immediately raced over to. That night we wandered the tiny downtown area looking for an open restaurant. The town only has about 5 restaurants even in high season, and three of them were closed, thankfully after we looped around for a bit we located Paulina's where we got ourselves a good dinner. After dinner, back at the cottage River ran around pushing a little toy Sheep, which he rarely let out of his sight for the next two days.
The next day we headed to the starting point of the Otago Central Rail Trail - a 152 km (94 mile) multiday bike path which begins in Clyde. Built on an old railroad bed the trail has a very gradual grade, never exceeding a 1:50 slope - making the ride nearly flat. Even with a flat ride, our ambitions were well short of 152 km. Our plan was to ride from Clyde to the neighboring town of Alexandra - just 7 km away - grab some lunch and bike back.
Reef and Sharyl opted for ebikes, while I was tasked with hauling River on a standard bike (in truth I was looking for the extra workout, so specifically requested a normal bike). Unfortunately the smallest ebike they had was just a little too large for Reef, and after a few failed attempts to hop up on it and get riding we swapped for a smaller standard bike for him.
The ride was simple, passing through farming areas, and a couple (unfortunately closed for the winter) vineyards. It passed over one wooden bridge which was pretty slick leading Reef to walk his bike across. It should be noted that it was a freezing day - temperatures stayed at or just below 40 degrees (F), and that being the case we essentially had the trail to ourselves, except for a handful of locals out walking their dogs.
Located right on the side of the Rail Trail is Industrial Lane Eatery in Alexandra. With nearly frozen hands and faces we made our way into the cafe, where we found unbelievably delicious baked goods. The slice of Gingerbread with pear I had was to die for, and the boys each tackled a giant and fresh M&M cookie, before we all settled in with sandwiches which were equally tasty.
Back on the trail to Clyde we had been fortunate to miss a passing rain shower, but now needed to avoid a bit of mud in various places. Reef's pace had decreased vs the way out, and it was a bit of a slow ride - but we made it back eventually.
That night Sharyl located the one other open restaurant in Clyde - The Post Office Cafe & Bar - a great restaurant set in a beautiful old stone building which served as the town's Post Office all the way up until the 1990's! We sat close to the open fireplace, and enjoyed a freshly made Chicken, Apple & Brie pie (essentially a chicken pot pie), a perfect warm meal following the cold day on the bike.
The next morning, July 1st, we awoke to a thin layer of snow on everything around us. We were flying out of Queenstown, just over an hour away, that afternoon and a storm was in the forecast. We got text messages warning of possible flight delays depending on when the main brunt of the snow storm hit - so decided to hop in the car and head towards Queenstown early to avoid snowy roads if possible. First order of business was scraping the ice off the windshield, a task we'd undertaken several times since arriving in the mountains, but finally on this last day we came up with the handy innovation of using a spatula from the kitchen of our AirBnb for the task (we'd been using credit cards previously since our low budget Yes Rental car didn't come with an ice scraper).
On our way to Queenstown we stopped into Cromwell, walking around their historic district, set right on the shore of Lake Dunstan. All the old buildings were beautiful, and we grabbed lunch at a cafe called Pinot Junction (Cromwell has several dozen wineries in and around town), enjoying a Cinnamon Scroll (basically a cinnamon roll) which turned out to be one of the best pastries we've had anywhere in NZ. From there it was on to Queenstown Airport.
Thankfully the flight took off on time, but within minutes of getting off the ground we were into the looming storm and the bumps got going. I had thought that the Whakatane flight was a roller coaster, but this was something else, complete with the flight attendant announcing the presence of barf bags in the seat backs over the speaker for anyone who might need them, and once we finally cleared the turbulence saying "that's why Queenstown is the Adventure Capital of the World!". The boys of course thought it was all very fun and probably would have preferred the bumps for the entire flight rather than just the first 5 - 10 minutes.
Arriving in Christchurch was a breeze. Having been through a few times now we opted to stay at Novatel, a hotel located right next to the terminal, so we could just walk our cart of baggage right up to our room, before returning it back to the baggage claim. It should be pointed out that one of several small things New Zealand does, which together make life infinitely easier, is that the airport luggage carts are free all over the country, and they are plentiful. There is no searching for change, juggling bags after a long flight - just simply everyone grabs a free cart and loads it up at the baggage claim. Sounds dumb but after an exhausting flight the ease of that really decreases the frustration level of travel. They also provide free Wi-Fi in the airport, another small but useful thing - which makes you feel like the goal of the country is to make things easier when possible - a sense which is appreciated on long travel days.
The next day Sharyl walked the 30 seconds back to the terminal to get the keys to our rental car, and we set off from there to downtown Christchurch - our destination - Punting on the Avon! What is Punting you may ask - it is same thing as the Gondolas in Venice - a shallow boat moved along with a long pole at the back. The Avon river is a crystal clear spring fed river which threads its way through Christchurch. Punting on the Avon operates in the city's 52 acre botanical garden, and had come recommended by our friend Ann who had lived for years in Christchurch. The tour was beautiful, and the boys loved being on the boat watching the ducks and passing under numerous footbridges spanning the river.
After the tour we walked a few blocks over to the Riverside Market a bustling indoor/outdoor market with tons of food and shopping options.
From there it was onto the main event - the Margaret Mahy Playground which Reef has decreed is the "best playground in the World", and is in fact the largest "play project in New Zealand". Named after Margaret Mahy a famous New Zealand children's author - known for wearing a rainbow colored wig around town - the playground occupies a space in the city's downtown along the Avon river. The project was part of Christchurch's rebuilding efforts after the damage sustained throughout the city following the Christchurch earthquakes. We have gone to the playground every time we've been through Christchurch and the boys continue to be thrilled by it. Reef loves the giant slides, while River loves the water area . . . not really a great thing during winter! After a couple hours of the boys running wild we headed back to Novatel (where they continued to bounce on the beds as though it were a playground for sometime).
The next day, Monday July 3rd, after breakfast and a sourdough loaf to go from Bohemian Bakery we packed up from Novatel and headed over to the International Antarctic Center located right next to the Christchurch airport. We were able to watch a penguin feeding, which was pretty fun and different. All the penguins at the center are Little Blue Penguins- a species found around New Zealand. Standing about 10 inches tall they are only 20% the size of the Emperor Penguin which can be over four feet tall, the largest of the 18 species of penguin. Penguins in the Antarctic Center were generally injured or needing some support - they included penguins with damaged beaks, one which was blind in one eye, and one which was afraid of the water! The Antarctic Center had a number of other experiences- including a room where you experience an Antarctic storm, rides in the vehicles they use in Antarctica, and other things. Unfortunately we had to head towards the airport soon after watching the penguin feeding so those other experiences will need to wait until a future trip.
When our flight finally took off we couldn't have been happier as River was a complete handful running wild around the Christchurch airport. His escapades included racing down jetways of boarding planes which were not our own - and attempting to make his way out to the tarmac in the commuter terminal where we were. When contained in his stroller his screaming could be heard from one end of the terminal to the other.
The flight was an easy 30 minutes over to Nelson (saving us a 5 - 6 hour drive), and after the bumps from Queenstown felt quite smooth and uneventful, and thankfully River settled down for the ride.
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