Wanaka, here I am!

27Sep08

So, finally, my first post from New Zealand!

I’ve been in the country for just over two weeks now. It’s taken me a long time to get round to posting on here for several reasons; the main reason being that I’ve only just sorted myself out to the point where I feel like I’m slipping into some kind of routine as far as the time difference goes. I didn’t think I was affected at all by jetlag to begin with; I went out with my cousin, Ella, on my second evening here for some drinks. I was fine, perfectly energetic, not lethargic at all. I seemed to be ok for a few days (the fact that I forced myself to sleep for 11 hours in a Christchurch motel after my connecting flight to Queenstown was cancelled may or may not have played a part in this) but after that I could feel myself becoming gradually less energetic with each day that passed. Because of this lapse in energy I’ve been taking it easy for the most part. I’ve been exploring, and even went to a rave (we’ll leave out the part where I drank too much wine and – long story short – slept through the entire thing) so it’s not as if I’ve just been lazing around the whole time. I think I’m starting to finally regain my normal energy levels now which can only be good news.

I suppose the best way to start off would be a very short geography lesson so anybody who reads this has some idea of where I am and what I’m talking about. At the moment I’m staying in Wanaka with my aunt and two of my wonderful cousins. Wanaka is a relatively small but very popular town which sits on the edge of the aptly named Lake Wanaka. It’s situated near the bottom end of the South Island, in the Otago region.

Allow me to demonstrate using the magic that is Google Maps (hint: it’s the big red marker):

Wanaka sits right next to the Treble Cone and Cardrona mountain ranges and as such is hugely popular with skiers and snowboarders. It gets incredibly busy in the summer months – something I have yet to experience – but is relatively quiet at the moment because it’s coming up to the end of the ski/snowboard season.

This is by far the most spectacular place I’ve visited in my life. It’s so grand in scale that it’s difficult to even comprehend. You can’t look into the distance without seeing snow-capped mountains, or a beautiful lake, or a clear sky full of stars, or anything else that can be classified at mind-blowingly beautiful. Seeing it first-hand I can understand why my aunt decided not to go back to the UK after she’d visited some twenty-odd years ago.

I’ve uploaded all the photos I’ve taken so far onto Flickr but I’ll post some of my favourites here for your delectation.

Clutha River from the footpath

Clutha River inlet

Eely Point

Mount Cook with an awkward tourist in the foreground. 😉

Amazingly cool camper van on the shore of Lake Wanaka

Filed under: General, geography lessons, photos   |  2 Comments
Tags: otago, photos, south island, wanaka