I drove from Franz Josef to Wanaka with only a fuel stop, as it rained pretty much the whole way. It started to clear a smidgeon just before arriving in Wanaka early afternoon. Given I was too early to check in where I was staying, I headed off to the newsagency/bookstore which has an awesome range of reading material.
Every time I've been here, I've ended up in this store and something invariably follows me home! I'd already finished two books this trip and given the crappy weather, thought I may need another. Once the important job of book selection was done, I grabbed a few groceries, found some lunch and sat down by the lake for an hour or two.
The lake never fails to soothe me and the emotional attachment to this place just grows stronger and stronger. Not sure what it is, perhaps I've lived here in another life time if that's the way things go, I just know that I need to spend more time here and that this is a healing happy place for me.
Of course, given the cooler weather I didn't need to worry about cold groceries warming up in the car as you do in Queensland, so I was able to spend my time just soaking it all up and people watching.
The plan worked well and when I was ready, I wandered up to where I was staying a couple of hours later. I was most pleased to see my room had a washing machine and dryer which was just what I needed given I was down to my last clean pair of socks and undies! Not to mention there were not too many clean clothes left either.
After settling in and putting some washing on so I didn't have to pong along the next day, I went back out for a drive and was a little disappointed there didn’t
seem to be much snow about. I was expecting more seeing as how it was only a couple of days into spring. I realised later there possibly was more snow, but it was likely hidden behind the low lying clouds and all I needed was a fine day to see it.
I’d been hanging for some
home cooked food, so when I got back to my room I made a stew with meat and veggies that was very yum, with
enough left to have more the next day. Gotta love a place with a fully equipped kitchen!
The place I was staying mentioned that Treble Cone had started a Scenic Chairlift ride for $20 that includes a hot drink at the top and even some pizza if you're peckish. I decided my trusty camera and I would definitely have to check that out while I was there.
I was hoping for a sunny or sunnier day the next day. I'd realised not only how tired I was, but also emotionally exhausted so I was very much needing and looking forward to winding down.
While the travelling has been good in many ways, I think I was just
trying to run from everything on this trip and all the
driving was keeping me occupied. But I was now exhausted in every which way and more than ready to stop. My hope now was that the time in my beloved Wanaka didn't fly too fast.
After an early night and a lazy start to the next day, it was so nice not to have to be or
go anywhere. I headed off to the lake for a walk and basically wandered all over the place enjoying the views and having a day of taking pics. One can never take enough pics!
I so love this place and wished more than anything that I could stay. It surely must be time for me to start seriously considering a much longer period of time here!
I took myself out to dinner at Sasanoki’s and as always, the
food was delicious! I've mentioned them in previous post and they offer some of the best Japanese food I've tasted!
I also bought myself some daffodils because they are so cheery and I needed some of that cheer while I start to unwind and relax over the next few days. Everything is a
big decision at the moment so I figured the best way to go would be to try to stop thinking, keep it all simple and just let the days evolve.
I booked in to do a Ridgeline Adventure tour the next day, something I'd been going to do since I'd been visiting this place so was looking forward to that. I'll keep those juicy details for my next post!
No comments:
Post a Comment