Thursday 20th April
We stayed in a very picturesque caravan park right on Lake Hawea last night. We went for a drive around the lake before heading out. The bellbirds were singing sweetly in the trees.

We then drove to Lake Wanaka, a short but very pretty drive. Our first stop was Puzzling World which was a very interesting display of illusions. There was a room you went into which was on a 15° angle which played with your brain and also had the ability to make you feel unsteady and nauseous. It is amazing how your mind can play tricks on you to see something that isn’t really there.

We then headed to Lake Wanaka for a lunch with another lovely view. It was surrounded by beautiful trees in Autumn colours. Very picturesque.

We went then to see “That Wanaka Tree”. Wanaka’s willow with wet feet is perhaps New Zealand’s most photographed tree. About five years ago, Wanaka photographers and writers began pumping images of it to social media sites as bit of a joke. Two years ago, Lake Wanaka Tourism put the tree on its photo trail and last year a Wanaka Instameet that beamed tree images to millions of people. DB joined the many and took a few photos.

Next stop was around the lake to Glendhu Bay where we could see Rob Roy Glacier  small hanging glacier. We then headed towards our home for the night at Arrowtown to try to get there before dark as we knew the views were definitely worth seeing in daylight and we have missed a couple of beautiful gorges already when we arrive too late to our accommodation.

Not to disappoint the views were amazing. We also arrived at our new home which was located about 5 minutes out of Arrowtown surrounded by a deer farm. Another magical spot. Don’t know how we manage to find these secluded spots but we are getting very good at it.