Illusions and Inspiration

Trip Start Sep 09, 2004
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Trip End Ongoing


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Tuesday, February 1, 2005

Yesterday was quite a long day, as well as a tiring one. We left Twizel quite early and backtracked on ourselves slightly in order to pick up the road that entwines itself along the Western side of Lake Pukaki, right up to Mount Cook. We'd checked the weather conditions at an information office in Twizel before we left and decided to chance it as the report was looking good for later that morning. The scenery on the way was fantastic and luckily, the weather wasn't too bad though the visibility wasn't great at times. When we arrived, we decided to park up to get the stove going for the refreshments. The next thing, all that could be heard was Sinead and I screaming 'STOP!' as we sat and watched Traoine reverse the camper right up and on to a rock, totally mooring the van. A few minutes later, Traoine's hand was shyly covering her mouth after a couple of spins of the back wheels had suggested that there was no way off this thing. The rest of us were laughing but quietly wondering how the hell we were going to get the van off this rock. Out of sheer modesty, I won't say who's idea it was but we did get the van off the rock by vigorously rocking the back of the van from side to side while the wheels were in motion - thus giving enough temporary traction to drag itself off the rock. A few moments later and the van was back on four wheels, completely rock free. Then the piss-taking started. Don't worry T, an Export Gold will do it!

While we were there we took one of the walks up to a viewpoint to see the Tasman Range and the Tasman Glacier. This was another optical illusion as the scale of this thing was simply magnificent. It looked to me like we could quickly climb down and take a couple of hours walk right to the foot of the glacier but as Sinead rightly pointed out, it was absolutely miles away. This whole area and scenery around was utterly magnificent and though I'm conscious that I'm continuously using the same words to describe things, there really are no other words for them. I simply cannot describe. It's truly mindblowing.

We arrived in Wanaka yesterday evening and checked in to the same holiday park that I stayed on with my folks, quite conveniently placed within walking distance to the town, not far from the Purple Cow where I spent those few days with Chicken, Chris and Igno.

Jen suggested eating out tonight and we ended up settling in a place opposite the Irish pub for pizza. It was quite a long day yesterday and we were all quite tired after dinner.

The girls spent a few hours in town today catching up on internet stuff and emails. I've spent most of the day unloading and clearing out all the storage boxes from under the bed in the van in an attempt to try and make more room. I wanted to be able to unpack my clothes and have easier access for other things.

I'm also very happy to be in Wanaka again. I really love it here. It's a beautiful place with another 'feel' to it that I can't describe. The mountains looked different when we arrived yesterday, not as much snow on them as before. The lake looked beautiful, a real deep blue colour to compliment the fantastic weather. It was also really great to visit and have a look around the Mount Cook region as I haven't been there before. When I get more time I have every intention 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 no proper exercise for ages. Seeing the magnificence of the Southern Alps yesterday really touched and inspired me. I'm itching to get out there and to see the unspoiled beauty of this place. It's when I see things like that that it takes me back and gives me those familiar feelings from Kili that really fire me.

But all's well for now. After this temporary adventure I'll need to start planning a more definitive route, particularly as some of the more challenging treks require booking to secure places in the huts. For the time being, I'm more than happy to share my time with these fantastic people and the awe-inspiring expanse of Lake Wanaka is just a five minute walk away.
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