Wanaka was a nice, quiet stopover for us after the bustle of Queenstown & the busy days at Doubtful & Milford Sounds. The town is set on the edge of a beautiful lake & surrounded by gorgeous mountains.

While QT was a tourist town, Wanaka seemed to have a much more lived in feel & we got a taste of normal New Zealand life. I have a soft spot for beach with trees- it’s the perfect combination.

There were signs of snow on some of the far peaks. It was warm during the day & cool at night. I used the opportunity to sleep with the windows open & go for some awesome morning jogs.

There’s a great park that extends a long way along the shoreline. I think you can camp or picnic here. They offered some expeditions like kayaking or fishing down near the marina area.

It was really gorgeous- great lake, beautiful skyline, pleasant breeze.

There are quite a few shops & restaurants in the downtown area, including many with outdoor seating to enjoy the views and the weather.

And that is exactly what we did! There are several areas of New Zealand where they make the majority of the wine, and Wanaka is part of the Central Otago Region.

For almost half a mile, there is a very cool time along the main sidewalk to mark the millennium. Each tile represents a year & the important events for each of the past 2000 years make an entertaining walk.

We enjoyed many things about Wanaka- the slow pace, the great wine, the fun shops, good good, gorgeous scenery & just a few days to lay low before setting off for the West Coast & the glaciers.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: The work in my office is finished & I will hopefully have it all unpacked (finally) this week.

On our first day in Wanaka, I’d planned to do a helicopter tour around Mt. Aspiring, but the weather wasn’t cooperative. On the way back from the airport, we stopped into Puzzling World.

The place has all sorts of games, tricks & optical illusions. Hubby’s been pumping iron!

Honestly, I wouldn’t go out of my way to stop here, but it was fun to kill time since we didn’t have any other plans. It’s great for kids & perfect for inclement weather.

They have a giant maze outside with 4 corner towers that can take quite a long time to find. We walked around for about 15 minutes and found 3 of them, and then moved on to the indoor puzzles.

One of the neater optical illusions was the leaning room, where everything was angled.

Einstein is holding the level & it appears that the pool ball will roll uphill into the pocket.

Out in the atrium area, they have lots of table set up with dozens of challenging little games to amuse yourself with.

The Hall of Following Faces is quite the optical illusion- all the eyes move to watch as you walk around the room

The also have quite a large shop where they sell many of the smaller puzzles & games.

The bathrooms totally cracked us up. They have a men’s & women’s side, where we both walked in- only to come back face to face with each other. They have a mock up of a Roman bathroom which blends in with the vanishing painting. It looks real life like when you are already startled walking into the restrooms.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Headed to Dallas for work….more travel!

After our heli-flight back from Milford, we picked up our car & headed up to Wanaka for 2 nights of resting & relaxing. There are two routes to Wanaka & we drove the Crown Range.

Again, I really wished for better weather, but oh well! We ascended into the cloudy mountaintops.

The top of the hill rewarded us with some great views across the valley.

It’s always so cool being up above the clouds!

I really want a little place- side of the mountain, river running down below, surrounded by trees.

It’s quite a windy, twisty road up to the top, but fun to drive.

I think this is the little town of Arrow Junction, situated just outside of Queenstown.

Looking back, I really wished we’d made time to stop by the bungee jumping & do the proper New Zealand tourist thing.

Once you get past the first 1/3 of the drive, the rest is pretty normal countryside. Still beautiful & it’s a very easy/simple drive through the valley up to Wanaka.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: A month late, my office floor is finally getting installed today.

We had originally paid extra to take a scenic and breathtaking flight from Milford back to Queenstown. We’d planned on driving up to Wanaka & wanted to get there at a reasonable hour. Due to the usual weather, the plane flight was canceled, but we were able to “upgrade” (i.e. pay more!) and catch a helicopter ride back to town instead of spending 4 hours in the bus.

It was the two of us & two other women wanting to get back to town sooner. We quickly lifted off the ground & flew into the clouds.

This is where the river runs into Milford Sound- sorry for all the window reflections & the blade motion.

The valley itself & the river are quite impressive, and the hovering clouds add a aura of mystique to the landscape.

Many more trees and waterfalls as we left the sound and headed back across to Southern Alps to Queenstown.

It was cool to be at the top of the very steep mountain faces & look down below (instead of looking up from a boat).

Waterfalls and rivers meandered in and out of sight as they cascaded down the mountain.

It was a beautiful ride, but I can only imagine how stunning it is when the weather is clear & the waterfalls are still running strong.

We flew inland along the valley floor & followed the river.

There’s actually a really large high-country farm station in the middle of nowhere.

Sometimes the river displayed some very impressive rapids.

Away from the water & over top of the mountains, the ride got pretty bumpy & we started climbing.

There were several terrifying minutes that we were flying into the clouds & I kept trying to remember that the pilot knew all these peaks like the back of his hand.

Again, this is all part of the area where Lord of the Rings was filmed & the landscape all looked so foreign and other worldly.

I looked at these remote valleys and wondered if anybody had ever set foot in there.

For all the money we paid, we did get a very cool stop on top of a bluff back at Lake Wakatipu. This is one of my favorite shots from our whole trip- on a mountain, overlooking a lake, in the clouds.

We fit 5 people & all our luggage in that tiny helicopter.

Although not as clear as our earlier days in Queenstown, the clouds added a very moody feel to the scene.

We were right around the lake from where the Dart River Jet boats came out of the river and into the lake.

This one is already hanging on the wall at my office

The whole crazy flight was worth it to stop at this area & enjoy the amazing view.

Lots of wind!

I took a picture with the pilot just because he was that much of a character- such a cowboy & rebel, braving the treacherous weather & taking such risks.

Loved the blue-green water in Lake Wakatipu.

I sat in the middle with 2 men on either side…it was a tight fit & hard to take photos out the windows.

This was generally my view, but it was nice to be surrounded by windows on our first of three helicopter flights in New Zealand.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Hubby is going to cook his first brisket today.