H&R were
staying at their timeshare, which we had often heard about , as they have for
many years holidayed annually in Wanaka for 2 weeks at this time of year. The
apartments are lovely and well positioned for a short walk into Wanaka Central and the
foreshore. Bullock Creek runs through the property and is well stocked with
large rainbow trout. It was, much to my disappointment ,decided bad form to get
my fishing gear out and on later perusal of the fishing regulations quite
rightly so. The only way to console my disappointment was to head out for a
drink and so it was that we went to the Cardrona Whisky Distillery with H&R.
Sheryl had got busy and booked us on a tour after Katie’s recommendation. And what an interesting tour was had, though
no one licked the barrel! Something we witnessed in Cognac with fellow Kiwi
travelers touring a Cognac Producer a couple of years ago. Though I had strongly
admonished any thoughts of purchasing any of the excellent products, after a
full sampling, somewhat weakened, we
bought a bottle of their orange liqueur which was luverly…. I was tempted by the
whiskey but at $300 odd dollars for 750mm……..
Initially
with no plans to stay overnight in
Wanaka, H&R talked us round as they were unusually on vacation with no kids
and equally at loose ends so an enjoyable evening was spent with the prospect
of a look around the next day and a picnic in the Bus. Driving past Glendhu Bay
and walking the track to Diamond Lake, it was very warm windy and busy. Indeed
all the walking track parks were overfull with
cars signalling busy tourism already well in swing. We retired to the Lake
reserve in Glendhu Bay for lunch and had a relaxing afternoon talking nonsense
while watching other tourist come and go to the lake shore. We finished the day with a. great BBQ tea and discussed even more nonsense. The
highlight of the day for H&R must have been the waste disposal at the local
Dump Point where they learnt the intricacies of life on the road!
With Ralph’s
birthday the next day, we joined H&R on their reasonably early start with a
walk of the Wanaka streets, and a coffee to finish down on the waterfront
(which at this point of writing is underwater with flooding of the lake with
the constant rain in the hills and the snow melt at this time of the year).
After
breakfast we moved onto Albert Town Reserve for S to do some online work whilst
Bill fished…..and against all odds a lovely Rainbow was landed and kept. Moving
on we stopped in at Nine Mile Historic Reserve and looked around the old ruins
of the Lindis Hotel -interesting history as always. It is also a place to camp
overnight, but with it still being relatively early in the day and not great
for fishing, we decided to continue onto Twizel.
Camping that
night at our NZMCA spot along the canals, to again try our hand at a salmon and
to smoke my rainbow trout. With strong winds still in the area, it took a bit
to keep the smoke in, but we got there.
Two nights
and no fish so we ventured around to Lake Ohau and the beautiful and quiet Round
Bush Doc camp resplendent with colourful
Lupins, that are a signature of this area, showing all around the
McKenzie. The native mistletoe was also on stunning show in amongst the Beech
trees. Such a pity this is now an endangered plant with Possums and rats having
a detrimental effect on this beautiful plant. Doc are doing their best to try
and save the plant around the country.
But the
fishing was better, landing two small rainbow in quick succession but not keepers unless you were hungry. A big “hook spitter” took the lure then did a spectacular jump spitting
my lure right back at me, just to tease me!
A great
travesty the next day after we had taken the Suzuki for a bit of a 4wd to the
top of the lake into the huge Station, was on our return, DOC had turned up to
mow the lawns and…….mowed all the lupins down …….Sheryl was bereft ……I had
words with the grim reaper but he was adamant they were an introduced flora and
as such not welcome…. A bit like us in many respects if you want to follow that
train of thought. But thankfully the photo’s had been taken earlier while still
on splendid show.
We then
headed back round the lake bottom stopping and assaying the little freedom camp
areas, finding one on a creek outlet. I tried again for a fish and landed a
lovely rainbow about 3lb perhaps. So we moved on to a suitable place out of the
wind to enjoy the sunny evening on the foreshore.
We were
conveniently placed to cycle a short 10km section of the Alps 2 Ocean cycle
Trail running round the bottom of Lake Ohau to the Canal roads that then run
into Twizel. A very scenic 21km return ride in great weather was had before we continued on into Twizel, which is
booming we must say, for supplies and
went up to the Lake Pukaki Canals to
shelter amongst the trees from the strong winds but still looking for a salmon.
Finally caught my second one …a smaller one than Bro Alan’s & mine of a few
weeks ago but definitely a keeper. Excited I headed back after lunch to bag
another and in my jubilance let the next fish go, a 5lb rainbow quickly caught,
assuming they were there for my convenience but sadly …….no more fish were seen indeed not even the next day.
The weather
was changing for the worse so it was time to leave the McKenzie and think about
heading northward and where to spend our final two weeks before returning home to
Nelson for Xmas.
Meandering
the back roads of the Inland Scenic Route 72 – highly recommended rather than
the main Highway 1 for those that have the time to enjoy. Great to see so many
small communities thriving and pulling in passing Tourists, encouraging them to
“Responsibly Freedom Camp”.
Passing through the Rakaia Gorge on this route, we decided to do the 4 hour return walk to the Upper Gorge, looking quite fierce with all the heavy rain up in the western ranges. (major flooding started happening closing this route two days later!). We were surprised how many tourists stopped to do this walk on their travels too considering very little signage for the walk.
Bill enjoys
a saunter through some of the galleries and shops on this route, one such place in Oxford
that caught his eye with a Brass wine/beer barrel, Keg tap. A must own for all
Bus owners!!
 |
Bill's new gadget
(He reckons collectable😂) |
With the south island currently being hit by torrential down pours and amazing lightening strikes at the moment, we are slowly making our way up to Golden Bay for a weeks R&R before returning to Nelson. Ready for the festive season 🎄🎄
