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Wanaka

The town is set on the southern shore of the lake across from Mount Aspiring, the centrepiece of Mount Aspiring National Park. The park features a multitude of different landforms: hanging valleys, lake basins and some one 100 glaciers of different shapes and sizes.

Day 4, Tuesday: Today we left Queenstown and headed north to the resort town of Wanaka. The drive was spectacular! We took a mountain pass road that gave us a wonderful view of the valley. Once over the mountain, the terrain flatten a bit and eventually Lake Wanaka, and the town, were right in front of us.

We stayed at the Edgewater Resort, not surprisingly, located on the edge of Lake Wanaka. It looked like this day we would finally see some rain, but shortly after arriving in Wanaka the sun came out and it was another beautiful day.

Pat golfed at the picturesque Lake Wanaka Golf Club and I went horseback riding a little ways up the road in Cardrona. New Zealanders apparantly aren't concerned with being sued by riders as we could do anything we wanted. This was very refreshing after going riding in the U.S. where you might as well be strapped to an armchair because you will have as much fun as horseback riding at a regular stable.

We left town the next morning to go to Te Anau. We stopped and did a short but pretty hike that overlooked town.