The day begins with a morning walk. It is still semi dark here at 6.30 am and not a lot of people out, but there is enough light to see your way around. I headed out along the same path as yesterday towards the Shaky Bridge over the Clutha River. There is a large clock on the mountainside on the other side of the river that we can see from the house. It is lit at night and fortunately still lit this morning giving me a chance to get a photo in the morning light.
Once over the bridge I hopped over a fence and was able to walk quite away along the riverside on the gravel bed.
Todays plan is to drive to Wanaka, one of the most scenic towns on the South Island.
However, Peter finds it very hard to drive past a patisserie and has developed an exceptional skill at discovering the best one in just about every place we have visited so far. Today is no exception and just before Wanaka is a small town called Albert Town which we are assured has one of the best patisseries in the area. So after a small diversion, we arrive at Pembroke Patisserie. Expecting a long line of eager customers and a bit of a wait, we are very fortunate to get a park right out the front and quite quick service. It was well worth the diversion with great coffee and exceptional almond croissants.
Pembroke Cafe
After a great cup of coffee and a healthy croissant we moved on to Wanaka, only a short drive down the road.
It has been a long time since we have been here previously and the development is incredible. It is one of the wealthiest areas in NZ and quite busy with an upmarket shops lining the waterfront. Getting a car park is a challenge and there is quite a breeze blowing across the lake.
We had a good walk along the lakeside and with the strong winds, a lone kite surfer was revelling in the conditions on the lake.
The girls soon decided it was time to check out the shops whilst the boys continued along the shorefront entertained by the kite surfer who we ended up talking to on the way back to the car.
Three wise men awaiting the return of their wives from shopping
After leaving Wanaka our next stop Cadrona, and the well known and very old Cadrona Hotel.
The hotel had a good lunch menu and a huge beer garden out the back where we managed to seat ourselves in a little glasshouse , out of the wind, to enjoy our lunch. The food was very good with enough variety to please most tastes.
The beer garden was very large
Leaving Cadrona we have quite a climb through mountainous country reaching a lookout that gave an amazing glimpse of Queenstown and the airport we landed at. Amazingly, we were fortunate enough to witness an incoming flight as we were taking in the view. We believe is was QF 121, the same flight we came in on.
QF 121 contrasted against the hillside on approach
From here we headed back towards Alexandra through some very scenic country, arriving home in time to have a short rest and freshen up before walking down the road to an Indian Restaurant, Curry Culture.
It is a small restaurant that was surprisingly busy. Peter and Deirdre were well known to the host and despite being run off his feet, he was eager to please. The food was very good and we ordered more than enough to fill us up. The host also threw in a few free offerings. We waddled home ready for a good nights sleep and a new adventure tomorrow.
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