Lake Hawea & Wanaka

The wind was strong and noisy overnight in our spot by the lake but although there seemed to be quite a lot of vans in various nooks and crannies - only 4 in ours - we weren't disturbed by other campers. The drive down the right side of Lake Wanaka is stunning with the corn-hued and brown coloured mountains with bracts of shadow and sun on either side of the blue lake and the feeling of isolation with the road not yet being too busy.

It wasn't long before we reached the neck of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea where they were originally joined. 

Moody Hawea

Then we were in awe of the view of Hawea on our left - golden, barren mountains, bluey grey water with windswept waves running down the lake and the moody textures of clouds and shadows. Halfway down signs of civilisation begin to return with sheep, dotted farm houses, crops and the return of phone reception.

Remembering Hawea from our previous visit when we had biked there from Wanaka we stopped just beyond the village at the 9 hole Lake Hawea golf course being greeted and welcomed by Tim, the owner. 

Thrash in the making!

The wind was still sweeping down the valley but we played 18 holes on the pretty straight fairways  with the challenge of big dry ditches across a lot of them, the most difficult being the 4th where the soggy ditch is right in front of the green. I didn't learn and landed in it both times but there were no bunkers to worry about.  

A birdie for Trish!

Being in the flat valley and surrounded by the mountains it was a picturesque spot with the little pond which is home to ducks and other birds adding to this.

We could have stayed there the night but it would probably be noisy being right beside the main road so, instead, we continued on, into Wanaka which was very busy with tourists, firstly visiting the new service area being trialled by the council for self contained motorhomers. You can dump your waste and rubbish here, fill up with water and also have a shower all for free. What an amazing service although we think you should have to pay something for it. Afterwards we parked behind the Wanaka Districts Club for just $10 a night with only one other motorhome for company.

We walked downhill from here, across the park area into town, having decided that an Italian meal would be nice but Francisco's was fully booked and there was a wait of well over an hour at it's sister restaurant over the road. So we popped around the corner to Big Fig, a very popular and highly regarded middle eastern restaurant where you choose your plate size and they fill it up with the choices laid out in the cabinet before you. You need to just share a table wherever you can so is very casual with the food being delicious. Just as well as we were extra hungry with not having eaten very much while we were playing golf!

We had a quiet night in the club carpark and today has been pretty cruisy. We met up with 2 of my old Physio classmates, Mary, her husband John, and Jude who both live close by, for a slow lunch at the Lake Bar. Great to catch up again after many, many years. 

Trish, Jude & Mary.

Afterwards we popped along to Mary's house so she could share some of the veges from her prolific garden with us which meant we could even have mint sauce with our lamb chops tonight!

We have parked for the night again behind the Wanaka club - tomorrow we will go to play golf at Tarras on the way to Cromwell.