This was a beautiful and truly sad day. Wanaka is an amazing location and a highly recommended outdoor recreation spot. The breadth of opportunity in witnessing lambs being born, hiking through the alpine country, four wheel driving, and the warmth of the people will not be forgotten soon.
The little town of Fox is only a four-hour bus ride through the mountains and over to the western coast from Wanaka. The pace of travel fits the local laidback mentality. Total driving time was most likely two and a half hours. However, drivers are required by law to make frequent rest stops and requested by touring companies to make even more frequent stops for tourist traps en route.
However, the occassional stop for an ocean view or waterfall is definitely appreciated.
The little town of Fox is one where literally everyone knows each other and locked doors hardly exist, even in your accommodations. When registering at the Ivory Backpackers, I was surprised not to receive a key. The response from the owner was, “I’ve never seen a crook. If you see one just bring him to me.” So off to my unlocked room I trotted. It didn’t take long to realize why the extra security wasn’t needed. The town of 200 is a little bubble and there is rarely a moment alone for things to happen in secret. My bags were still locked, but they were safe in my room during showers, etc.
In the evening I took a walk to Lake Matheson, which when the clouds are away from the mountains provides a perfect reflecting pool. The walk was great and I met a biologist from the States on the walk, but the falling rain and snow didn’t provide much of a backdrop for reflection.
The upside was seeing a herd of young bulls and that the sunset was incredible.
Wonders of Kiwi Engineering
• Chicken Wire as Grip Stop – It seems that almost all wooden stairs or walkways are covered in chicken wire. This idea is miraculous. In wet or snowy weather wood surfaces can get extremely slick. Easy solution, bam, nail some chicken wire down and it works like a charm!
• One lane bridges – Yikes, yes that means “head on collisions” if drivers do not obey the posted signs. One direction always has the right of way and the other “should” yield until the bridge is cleared. This works with remarkable efficiency, but would never work in the rifle focused ballistic driving style of the states.
• Lilliputian Sinks & Faucets – The smallest sinks known to man must exist in New Zealand, with faucets so close to the porcelain edge that the water can not clear one half of the width of your hand, when put side ways underneath the faucet. That roughly equates to one knuckle of clearance. To make things even more fun, the scalding and freezing taps are of course separated by the width of the sink.
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