Wanaka, New Zealand Travel Blogs

Home made Yorkshire puddings!
Nov 24, 2005 (11 photos)

... some nice places for the proceeding nights (Hilltop in Papatowai and Freestone Backpackers in Manapouri) so that they'd continue to enjoy the New Zealand experience without me. As for me, I had to pack my things together ahead of my latest jaunt to Oz, ...

12,000 feet high and rising!
Jul 21, 2005 (5 photos)

... of the lakes and mountains. The fact that I found a $10 note on the way back to the hostel was the icing on the cake! My list of highlights in New Zealand is growing, but it will take something extra special to surpass the skydive over Lake Wanaka.

Puzzling World!
Jul 20, 2005 (5 photos)

... and explore. I did an easy, peaceful 2 hour return walk to Waterfall Creek, which basically followed the beach around Roy's Bay. Wanaka certainly did seem like a picturesque little place, and it reminded me of Picton in terms of its size and setting. I sat ...

Wanaka-time to leave
Mar 8, 2005 (4 photos)

... tomorrow to start my travels again. The weather has changed over night and winter is on it's way. My time in Wanaka has been varied. Work at new world was interesting to say the least, but I don't think it will be a career move. Standing in the same ...

Perfect.
Jan 11, 2005 (7 photos)

Hello Hello... We are sitting in Wanaka's "funkiest internet cafe" (self-proclaimed), and I'm pretty confident in saying, that today has been one of the most spectacular, visually stunning, yet. To backtrack a bit--- Abel Tasman: We spent three ...

A Puzzling world
Jul 26, 2005 (7 photos)

... versa. One room seemed to be on a 45 degree slope but was still level. We couldn't work it out either. We drove into Wanaka, saw some Irish people jumping into the freezing cold lake there screaming hat his bits were going to fall off before we found a ...

Wanaka
Mar 8, 2005 (3 photos)

... Esther and I walked May back to her hostel then headed back to ours, May was going to move to our hostel the following day. Wanaka looked lovely and I wanted to stay for a while. The following morning I got up early and headed into town to see if I could ...

Glaciers, mini-golf and a lot of cold air!
Dec 30, 2006 (26 photos)

... me the bright blue thread of the Clutha Rver glistened as it wound its way through the green plains, and turquoise Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea sparkled. The air rushed against my face and roared in my ears as I plummeted, but we were so high ...

Wanaka
Oct 26, 2005 (6 photos)

... couldn't wish for more beauty than that! Our hostel was ok, not the best place but it was close to everything... Having said that Wanaka is so small it would be difficult to be far away. We didn't really do much here, just chilled out on the beach next ...

Sofa cinema
Nov 23, 2005

We woke up early today and after breakfast with Connor we headed off to walk up Mt Iron. This 1.5 hour circuit walk on the edge of the town is a must do for stunning views of the surrounding peaks. The morning sky was clear and nearly every snow capped ...

Wanaka, colours are calling me...
Apr 20, 2007 (4 photos)

... The next day we took a walk to Diamond Lake (nothing special) and a walk up Rocky Mountain to views overlooking Lake Wanaka making the uphill battle worth the effort. We then headed onto Stuart Landsborough's Puzzling World just outside of town. We found ...

You wannaka to Wanaka?
Feb 10, 2005 (5 photos)

... then ran around it too, past the beach and the vinyards around it. I guess my concept of a "Big" city has changed because Wanaka seemed big to me after beeing in the middle of nowhere for a while. I discovered that people here live by 'Happy Hours'. If ...

A Change of Plan...
Jul 24, 2005 (5 photos)

... degree panoramic views. The walk back down was a lot more gentle, reminiscent of the track at Mount Maunganui. I didn't want to leave Wanaka without seeing the sunset over the lake and mountains, so at about 5pm I did a short walk to Eely Point. It was ...

Wanaka
Dec 9, 2004 (5 photos)

... , that was about it! Not a very exciting couple of days but good to just chill out in one place for a couple of nights. I think Wanaka would be great in the ski season but in the summer (well at the start of it at least when it can still be a bit chilly) ...

The most scenic drive in my life
Jan 31, 2008 (20 photos)

The road from Fox Glacier to Wanaka is the most scenic of a drive I've seen so far. It is like a scenic rollercoaster with beach and cliff views waiting behind every turn. It took us 8.5 hours to cover the 300km, since we were making photo stops every 15 ...

There's snow in the mountains!!!
Apr 7, 2006 (5 photos)

... like. We decided we'd just nip through it onto the next town and do all the action packed stuff for less elsewhere. So Wanaka anyway. It's a nice cosy little town, apparently a mini Queenstown and like all the towns in this part of the country its on ...

Adventure Sports Here We Come!
Mar 15, 2004 (5 photos)

... between a llama and a sheep) as if they were best of breed at Crufts. Funny. (Marcus's highlight was the jodhpurs!) On day 2 in Wanaka, we climbed the nearby summit of Mount Roy. Only a 16 km, 1100 metre ascent - no problem, we thought, we can do that ...

Final week in Wanaka
Aug 20, 2004 (6 photos)

... Friday we were tired....maybe I'm too old and should stick to ski-ing! And Saturday was our last day in beautiful Wanaka. Also Laura's birthday - a fortunate coincidence which led to birthday cake on the ski slopes and Bob stunt-skiing off a rock with ...

What to do in Wanaka
Nov 22, 2005 (3 photos)

... tonight but unfortunately our visit coincided with their bi-annual safety review. What are the chances! Staying another night in Wanaka seemed worthwhile as this was a one-of-a-kind movie theatre, kitted out with old sofas, mismatched chairs and even an ...

Stunning Scenery
Dec 3, 2003 (5 photos)

... probably doubled the expected journey time and rolled into the 'one horse town' of Glenorchy at lunch time (which is any time in New Zealand - 'it's all good'). We had a leisurely pub meal and I was happily restored to my status quo as I swiftly sank two ...

A puzzling time in Wanaka
Jun 16, 2004 (5 photos)

... time I updated, it's been a while (I'm back dating these, it's actually been 2 months since I last updated). We arrived in Wanaka around dinner time and it was raining. I reached into the back of the car to get my waterproof jacket and realised it wasn ...

Arse
Jul 20, 2005 (11 photos)

... and detoured off, further west and over to Lake Matheson, which apparently offers some of the most panoramic, picturesque scenery in New Zealand. After everything I've seen, felt and experienced here, I just had to see for myself. The weather was perfect ...

Illusions and Inspiration
Feb 1, 2005 (13 photos)

... of doing some of the long treks around these parts. I'm just bursting to get out there. There is still so much to do in New Zealand and it seems so long since I've been able to do anything particularly active due to my foot injury. I feel like I've had ...

Quality Time
Dec 12, 2004 (4 photos)

... the first of the National 'Smoking Ban' which basically means no smoking indoors. The only legal 'indoor place' you can smoke in New Zealand now is in the comfort of your own home. One local shop owner was telling us how the liquor stores even have to ...

Feeding the Chicken
Oct 16, 2005 (17 photos)

'Time is it Runtney?' 'What?' "You heard!' Just got back from a short but pleasant break in Wanaka with the Chike. She's been up there for the last few days, having had some free time. It's her birthday on Tuesday, nearly twenty-two whole years ...

A nicer version of Queenstown!
May 13, 2006 (3 photos)

... ). They weren't coming in until 9 so we ate our meal as slowly as possible to see them and when they did arrive we didn't recognise a soul! Drove out of Wanaka and north between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea and found a quite spot to spend overnight.

Random(s)
Sep 19, 2006 (27 photos)

... into a series of random encounters... ...Like yesterday. An early start and a full day on the mountain. This time over to Wanaka, to 'Treble Cone'. A word on Treble Cone: 'TC' is the largest ski resort in the South Island and boasts some of ...

Life in Wanaka - Pre Ski Season
May 21, 2004 (15 photos)

... a few friends: ex-cleaners from the campsite (all now retired from the cleaning profession, but most still residing in Wanaka); colleagues from New World; even our cleaning boss who has taken it upon himself to teach us to ski. Besides the usual pub ...

That Does Impress Us Much
Oct 2, 2004 (3 photos)

... site number 29 for a few more days in our favouritest and most perfectly proportioned and positioned town in all of New Zealand. That afternoon we dined early on burgers cooked outside in the park's sheltered barbie area while rain continued to fall as ...

What New Zealand is all about
Dec 2, 2004 (9 photos)

Nothing much happened today. We had to drive 300 kms to Wananka. Not what you want when your ill. It didn't help that Monique stopped the bus every 5 minutes for Photo stops. I did get some good photo's though!