Wanaka November 2020

As always, the trip through the Lindis was magical, even more so as I was almost alone and could drive slowly through this ever-changing pass. The Omarama end is so gentle, with its long curvy roads winding through hills covered in tussock. It is so restful. The other side of the pass is rugged, with crumbling reddish cliff faces and narrow gorges.

Edgewater's grass looked more like a golf course fairway. It is so green and lush here. So good to be back.

That tree! Gorgeous as always.

With extra time in Wanaka, I treated myself to a fabulous day of wine tastings, visiting a number of areas quite new to me, as well as places already visited, decades ago!

Chard Farm, perched above the Kawarau Gorge, was the first tasting. Despite it being renowned for its wines, I was far more enchanted by the spectacular views. Not so keen on the narrow dirt road above the steep gorge though!

After four very different tastings in totally different areas, it was time for the final tasting at Rippon Vineyard, high above Lake Wanaka and voted number 13 most beautiful in the world. The other 12 must be sensational.

Pretty nice organic wine too.

There were some strong wind weather warnings but we escaped most of the storms, but could still enjoy the views dominated by heavy clouds. 

We, David and I,got some great walks in as we usually do. We stuck to our favourite track, the Fisherman's Track

And also enjoyed the Glendhu Bay walk, although I did get us to turn back on an exposed part of the track, as the force of the wind picked up.

Timing was perfect because as we left, the wind really became horrendous. Time to hunker down!

Luck stayed with us and the winds dropped the next day. We spent the day exploring a new area, Bannockburn where I had done some tasting at a fantastic new vineyard, Te Kuna, 

and had found out about the Sluicings Trail , which winds up through the most remarkably arid land.

Classified as desert, this landscape is both beautiful and hostile. It is hard to imagine how the gold-diggers of the 19th century endured the cold of winter and the baking summer heat  here.

It was a fabulous walk amongst these stunning sandstone monuments

It reminded me very much of my previous walk through the Clay Cliffs, but with less colour and different vegetation.

We had a great time in this really scenic wasteland.

On the way back I stopped at the edge of NZ's most recent hydro lake, Lake Dunstan. The light over The Pisa Range and the water was fabulous.

Time to say Farewell to Wanaka until 2021. What a great trip I have had.