Saturday, March 18th

 After having to get up early the last 3 mornings,  we had a gradual start to our day.  A light breakfast in our room, a walk to the coffee shop, finished the "hiking" laundry and out the door by 10:00.

Coffee  & apastry

Much better weather this morning / Te Anau lake

We left Te Anau driving to Wanaka. To do so you drive back to Queenstownand then head north to Wanaka. We took some pictures along the way. Stopped at a bungee jump site and ate our packed lunch.

A deer herd along the journey 

The Kawarau river by the Roaring Meg, a hydro electric power station.The river is the only outlet for Lake Wanaka.

Lake Wakatipu at Queenstown 

We made it to Wanaka in the early afternoon.  We are staying in a really delightful B & B. We can walk to Lake Wanaka and the shops and restaurants.  Wanaka is called the gateway to the southern Alps. Big mountains, winter skiing, wind and kite sailing, mountain biking and parachuting are just some of the possibilities.

On arriving, we found  a "wool" shop downtown.  Dennis found some merlino/ possum yarn to bring back home for a vest. Possums were brought into  New Zealand as an additional source of meat and for their fur. ( who knew) It is really soft. But now there are too many possums and they've become obnoxious. 

We then took a walk along the waterfront to see the infamous Wanaka tree. It was said to be a willow tree that began its life as a fence post. It was super windy. We did get our picture and came back to the room. We kicked back and then headed to dinner. I finally got my burger fix and Dennis celebrated ( a day late) St Patricks with bangers and mash.