I have discovered that our trip entailed seeing a great number of amazing things
and places, more than can really go on a single web page, so I've decided to break up the
photo galleries based on the progress of our travels. This page covers our third stop on South Island - Lake Wanaka:
Having seen Mount Cook, Milford Sound, and various other places we passed through, I was quickly falling in love with this
amazing and peaceful place. South Island is largely uninhabited, and most of the places where people live are areas nearly too
small to call towns; with one pub, one gas station, maybe a few small shops, and two or three helicopters. Almost everywhere we
went on South Island, the smallest towns had one pub and at least two helicopters. We figured it largely has to do with the vibrant
tourist business, and that some places on South Island can only be seen by helicopter.
We back-tracked a bit getting to Lake Wanaka but niether of us minded much because the place was so damn beautiful. The roads were
nearly empty and Erik took advantage of this to see just how fast our little rental car could take the curves of the two-lane
highways. We did make very good time from place to place, though.
Lake Wanaka was a quiet place where we could catch our breath and fully absorb all the wondrous places we had seen. It reminded
me a bit of Lake Tahoe only because it was the kind of place that was a boating destination in the summer months and a ski resort
in the winter months. There all similarities ended.
The place was a wide-open expanse of land and water surrounded by mountain ranges. We checked in early enough to take a hike on Mt. Iron,
and actually hiked the same mountain the next day before heading off for three days at Frans Josef Glacier.
