Wanaka

Wanaka is a very bustling tourist centre, and the scenery makes it very attractive for tourists. The town caters well for them in a huge lake front reserve where people can while away the day, swim, paddle board, kayak, walk or just laze in the sun.

We started to take the dogs for a walk but could not resist the urge to go for a swim so we raced back to the motorhome and got changed, before plunging with the dogs into the very pleasant lake water. The water is very clear, has very little weed and the temperature was just right. I am sure there are not many places that you can swim on a warm summer day with snow covered peaks in the background. The dogs also enjoyed their swim but did not want to stay in long so we took them back and we returned for a longer swim.

The NZMCA doen’t have a park in Wanaka which is a pity so we spent the night in the carpark of the Wanaka Club for $10. The deal was that Bruce would re-locate us to the Lake front the  next morning before I got out of bed.

All went to plan and that is what happened. I had breakfast in bed with the most gorgeous lake view out of my window. Once I was up we took the dogs for a good walk by the lake, and several swims before I settled down to write the blogs for the previous days (no internet coverage last two days). We then headed off to see the lavender farm.

The lavendar farm was a beautiful place with rows upon rows of lavender – some flowering, some awaiting picking , and some that had been cut ready to re-sprout. In addition to the lavender they had a large collection of dahlias and roses and the gardens were beautifully landscaped.

They even had a tractor in my colour!

There was a gift shop on site that had lavendar processed in all different sorts of ways – creams, lotions, oils, dried, and in bags and pot pouris. There were also a variety of honeys for sale.

We set off the find the inevitable shady spot for lunch and from the day changed around. The previous plans to see other Wanaka attractions were discarded. We went back to the lake front for a quick swim (and the water wasn’t so warm today), tried to find the world renowned gelato shop without success, and then headed out of town. towards Cromwell. It was a shame really as Wanaka is not an easy place to leave!