Day 17......Leaving the Fox for Wanaka.....

Morning faithful followers, well we are into day 2 of the Easter break here Down Under and across a bit, and my Oh my is it busy!  Everyone out enjoying the sunshine and apparently I have landed on a popular place here in Wanaka.  But more about that later, lets get on with Day 17.....

I was up and out early, saying goodbye to the lovely town that is Fox with a large carrot cake muffin to keep me going.  Now, I was having to leave a trail where I went so that the Easter Bunny can find me on Sunday so I made sure I left some clues.....

I had been told that the trip down to Lake Wanaka was beautiful so I was looking forward to it.  Haast Pass was meant to be particularly challenging from a driving perspective!  It would have to go a long way to beat some of the roads I have travelled....

A few stops on the way, it was raining as I stopped at Bruce Bay which is famous for its driftwood strewn beach and I also found out that people leave messages on rocks and leave them on the beach too.  Was a fab sight then at Knights point pheobe came out and the view was amazing and the sun was glorious! Now I had been reminded all week on the radio that Easter weekend would be 80's weekend (not that they seem to play any other music...) and I was not disappointed (when I had a signal) Pink Floyd followed by George Benson then Angel is a Centrefold (by whom the name escapes me..) Almost as great as the scenery!  I also realised that I have started to talk to myself in different accents and Lee the sat nag is only talking to me to tell me GPS signal has been lost.  Mind you, at the start of the trip he just said 'be prepared to turn right in 256km......'

Then is was this Haast Pass I had heard so much about and although it was mountainous and the sides of the mountains loomed over you it was nowhere near as windy (twisty not lots of wind) as I had been told.  The views were incredible though and I stopped and Roaring Billy Falls just outside Haast and it was more a Meow than a roar.  It just goes to show how much of an effect the lack of rain has had here, I walked all across the riverbed  to get a shot of the falls.  Hopefully it will all be back to its best soon after some real rain.  When I've gone obviously....
It was really raining now and one more stop at the Blue Pools (does exactly what it says on the tin) I plodded on.

Then it came into view.  A view so stunning I thought 'bloody hell that must be an illusion'.  It was, in fact, Lake Wanaka.  Now this seems to be a stupid thing to call it.  Not Wanaka as that is the name of the town, but Lake.  This is a bloody ocean!!!  Its MASSIVE and the mountains of Mount Aspiring Park that surround it are awesome.  Lee had told me that I had 1 1/2 hours to go before I got to my destination some time back and I said to myself (in another accent, I can't remember which) 'yeah make that 3 hours' and I was not wrong!  Every 2 mins I was stopping to ooh and ahh and take pictures.  It was unreal, and I just know the pictures will not convey the size of it!

And just when I thought that was enough another blood great lake loomed into view, Lake Hawea!  Not as ocean like but massive non the less.

Soon I was in Wanaka and what a lovely town it is too!  Young, trendy and absolutely heaving on Easter Weekend.  Looked like something out of an American Pie movie, hot rods, boats, pretty young things all looking hot and chilling and a cyclist sitting at a coffee shop with the most incredible pair of thighs I have ever seen.  Judge for yourselves girls....

The campsite has the most amazing view and there are lots of locals here as I think there is a power boat weekend on or something, but it certainly is a great place.  I intend to explore it tomorrow (today now) and just take the time to chill out with the beautiful people (I've done my hair and put some mascara on just in case.....)

So I found a spot on the lake front and watched the sunset, and as I headed back to the site I looked longingly at all the bars full with people enjoying the long weekend and Trevor and I parked up at our spot and I got ready for bed and did a crossword.....

Still today is a new day and the sun is out, and I must leave more clues for the Easter Bunny as I need eggs tomorrow!  So off I go to explore this lovely town, maybe do some shopping and I'm catching a movie and the most amazing cinema tonight!  But you will have to wait till tomorrow to find out more......!!