Welcome to Wanaka

When I first determined that I was definitely headed to New Zealand, it was right around the time that my brother, Keith, and sister-in-law, Cristin, were on their honeymoon. They spent three weeks traveling around New Zealand, and upon their return had quite a slideshow to present! They were able to explain their impressions of different areas of the country, and seemed eager to tell me where to live. Of all the places they visited, they recommended a town called Wanaka.

Wa-Na-Ka. It sounded so foreign at the time! The only way for me to remember it was by noting how it rhymed with Hanukkah. Keith described how it was similar to Queenstown (the adrenaline capital of the world) but less touristy. They assured me there were just as many outdoor adventure activities, but not quite as many shops or tourists. Cristin talked about the spectacular views and both showed off pictures from their visit. The town sits right on Lake Wanaka, nestled in some beautiful mountains, and, upon a bit more research, I discovered it has heaps of climbing crags quite close to town!

I was sold. Though, I continued to consider alternate places to spend a good portion of my time. I found that Nelson was also in close proximity to some outdoor climbing, and was also attracted by its location in wine country. Nelson is at the top of the South Island and competes with another nearby town for the most sunshine days in the country. I determined that both Nelson and Wanaka were going to be places to spend some time, and decided that Nelson’s weather sounded ideal in the summer, and Wanaka looked like the perfect ski town to spend my winter!

Happiness is... Fruit Trees and Furry Friends

I am sitting here in a campervan that, for the next two weeks, I get to call my own. There is a friendly, excitable dog outside, a cuddly kitten hanging out near the kitchen, a saltwater swimming pool on the beach a few hundred yards away, some travelers hanging out by the fire, wine in a glass beside me, a cool breeze blowing outside, and a cozy bed (that is not a bunk) waiting for me to crawl into it. At this point in my travels, this is happiness.

I spent the past couple weeks in what I can only describe as a “funk.” My family departed in Auckland and I flew back to Nelson to figure out what was next. The problem was that I spent too much time thinking about what I was going to do with my family that I hadn’t properly planned what would happen after they left. I hadn't even arranged a ride from the airport or a place to stay that night. I spent a week “job searching” though I think I was looking in all the wrong places. I also did some exploring with people I met in the various hostels I stayed at, but continued to return to the notion that I needed to be figuring out what was next rather than simply enjoying the day in front of me.

A Quick Summary... [composed 30 October 2010]

These past few days have been a bit of a whirlwind of new experiences. Once again my days have been busy with little time to write, so instead of an extremely long post, I think I will have to summarize in list form. In the past three days I: learned to drive on the left side of the road, enjoyed the best chai latte I have ever had (twice), kayaked to a place called Lonely Bay and enjoyed much of the morning with just two people on the beach (Nate and myself), scampered up an overgrown path to Shakespeare Cliffs (and ran into a couple who had DRIVEN to the top), did cartwheels and handstands in the surf, took LOTS of pictures, visited Stingray Bay and didn't see any, hiked to Cathedral Cove for what Nate has deemed the "quintessential NZ picture" where I did more cartwheels (and headstands) in the surf, climbed numerous rock structures on various beaches, took more pictures, dug a hole at Hot Water Beach to create a personal hot-spring-fed hot tub (okay, so I didn't dig one from scratch, but I helped maintain one somebody else had left), grilled a tasty dinner on a BBQ that took ages to cook, drove on the longest unpaved road I had ever experienced (complete with many one lane bridges), hugged a Kaori tree, ate lunch on the beach, and several other things I'm sure I'm forgetting!