We left the rain at the West Coast and headed inland across the Southern Alps to Lake Wanaka. On the way to Wanaka we stopped at Lake Matheson for a short hike and tried to see the peaks of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman, but alas it's the West Coast and it was cloudy and rainy, so the view was terrible.
The drive into Wanaka was incredible! We made it through Haast and its beautiful vast river valley, then followed by jungle covered mountains we drove along the Haast river and up through the Haast pass. We made a quick stop at Thunder Creek Falls, and then continued on through Makarora, then finally along side Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka, surrounded by beautiful rugged mountains.
Wanaka is situated right on the lake, surrounded with mountains. Stunning views from our hostel's balcony kitchen, definitely made it a great stop. We enjoyed our time in Wanaka walking around town, down along the beach and taking in the scenery. It's a nice little town in the summer - with a population close to 10,000 that close to triples in the winter because of the great snowboard and ski hills in the region. We also had the pleasure of visiting Puzzling World while we were there - which is a world renowned activity centre built with many illusion rooms and the worlds largest outdoor 3D maze that takes at least an hour to complete. Pretty cool, definitely a fantastic stop.
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