Livermore New Zealand: April 18th-19th-20th Wanaka

April 18th-19th-20th Wanaka

Ursula got out 1.5 hours early on Wednesday the 18th so we could drive to Wanaka -a small but beautiful area with lakes surrounded by mountains. We stayed in the “Barn.” It was probably the nicest place we have stayed. It had a full kitchen, heated tile floors, and was right near the lake (Lake Wanaka).

On the 19th we woke up and walked along Lake Wanaka. The amazing thing is only a tiny fraction of the lake has any homes or businesses on it. The vast majority is pristine. After a lovely walk we drove to the National Toy and Transport Museum. This huge facility is packed with cool toys and vehicles of all sorts. Brody’s favorite was the giant howitzer like field guns (the kids could sit on them and really turn and raise/lower them). Gabe’s favorite part was the field guns and some really cool pedal cars. Tara loved all the Barbie toys and doll houses.

Next, we played at Dinosaur park right on the lake near the i site (i sites are information centres in almost every town in NZ). After that we headed to climb Mount Iron. This was a brutal walk. It was not shaded and the strong NZ sun was constantly beating down on us as we trudged uphill. The views from the top were spectacular and again, amazing for the almost complete lack of houses or businesses. When the ice age was here, Mount Iron was under 1000 meters of ice! It was time for some NZ gelato and then a paddle boat ride on the Lake! Gabe and Mom went on an evening bike ride.

The Homestead in Wanaka-very nice.

Lake Wanaka

Walk around Lake Wanaka

Fall in Wanaka

National Toy and Transport Museum

The kids liked all the Star Wars

Cool pedal cars

Brody and a friend man the guns.

Dinosaur Park

The top of Mount Iron.

View from Mount Iron

Dad and Tara on paddle bike.

The morning of the 20th the boys and dad borrowed some bikes from the hotel and road all along Lake Wanaka. We stopped at the dinosaur park again. We then checked out and headed to the Stuart Landsborough’s Puzzling World. The kids loved the tilt house (it mad Dad a little quesy) and the following faces room. It was an interesting attraction started by a kiwi couple in the 70’s (Stuart and his wife). They sold their house in order to get the money to start the tourist attraction after the bank refused them a loan.

Next, we did the Paddle boats and played at the park again before heading northwest to glacier country. We stopped on the way at the Blue Pools walk. The water is an amazing blue thanks to the pristine glacier water. We were also able to walk across another long suspension bridge. Other walks included Fantail Falls and a several cool stops including the Knight’s Lookout! After almost six hours we arrived at our hotel, 58 on Cron in Franz Josef, NZ.