Dawn Chorus in Wanaka
On the Lakeview campsite at Wanaka the birds' dawn chorus wakes you at dawn. No need to get up. It's spring veering into summer in New Zealand when it's autumn in England. The days are long.
Yes, in summer in New Zealand it's light late, unlike Indonesia, so no need to start climbing early. In Indonesia everybody was up at dawn, to get the climb finished before it got dark. Here, in New Zealand, less of a hurry.
Maybe the lakeview campsite once had a lakeview from every corner, but now a Rugby pitch buildings and a hedge are in the way, as you can see from street view. It doesn't matter. A short walk or drive and you are by the lakeside.
Wanaka is on lake Wanaka, easy to remember.
Kias
The kia birds are charming at first but you soon realise they are a menace. Don't leave your bag open or they will grab food from inside. If not food, anything else which looks interesting.
I remember when we went skiing, we came back to our car to find kias tearing at the seals around the windows and the rubber on the windscreen wipers!
Kia
By Angela Lansbury
You don't want to be near a kia,
You don't want it hopping on your car
If it eats your windscreen wipers
You won't drive happily far.
I like a picture of a kia
But I'd rather see its rear
I don't want it to appear
It's great anywhere else - but not here.
Kias make great subjects for photography. I just sat and watched an hour's retrospective of several friends on their hillwalking holiday - from everybody's whats app photos, supplemented by streetview.
The campsite was a great saving on the overall cost of the holiday.
Previous trips we had done several trips skiing in Queenstown on another lake, Puzzling World at Wanaka, and the gold panning attraction in the former gold mining village. I didn't find any gold.
The expense was the trip up the cable car at Queenstown, about 20 pounds sterling. It saves you an hour's walk up, and an hour down again.
All the hikes were wonderful. One takes you up the aptly named Grandview mountain to the vantage point with the triangular marker at the top telling you the elevation.
Wanaka Wining and Dining
Extending the week-long trip over both weekends allowed time for my husband to take trips around wineries.
Amisfield Vineyard Restaurant
The highlight of my husband's holiday for me was the Michelin standard Amisfield Vineyard restaurant. I watched the video of the servers explaining each dish. We checked the menu and re-played the videos to list all the ingredients described.
A three course meal turned into five courses by the time you added in the two amuse gueles (French for amuse the mouth - free teeny dishes). It's all chef's choice. (Used to be called table d'hote or table of the host.) Red raspberry fruit leaf - looks yummy. Main course was lamb, New Zealand lamb, of course, with manouka - the local tree.
The pink macaroons which came with the coffee were wrapped up to go as my husband was racing for the airport. Overseas, we ate them whilst watching the souvenir videos.
You can take food out of New Zealand, but we would not risk taking anything in. The fines are so high nowadays.
I'm still reviewing my notes on the ingredients of the last lunch. Lots of garlic. Elderflower.
Diners sat under umbrellas around a central oblong pond, outdoors. Piles of hats were beside the pond, presumably for guests to borrow if they got sun in their eyes.
I've marked the restaurant down for my next trip.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
On the Lakeview campsite at Wanaka the birds' dawn chorus wakes you at dawn. No need to get up. It's spring veering into summer in New Zealand when it's autumn in England. The days are long.
Yes, in summer in New Zealand it's light late, unlike Indonesia, so no need to start climbing early. In Indonesia everybody was up at dawn, to get the climb finished before it got dark. Here, in New Zealand, less of a hurry.
Maybe the lakeview campsite once had a lakeview from every corner, but now a Rugby pitch buildings and a hedge are in the way, as you can see from street view. It doesn't matter. A short walk or drive and you are by the lakeside.
Wanaka is on lake Wanaka, easy to remember.
Kias
The kia birds are charming at first but you soon realise they are a menace. Don't leave your bag open or they will grab food from inside. If not food, anything else which looks interesting.
I remember when we went skiing, we came back to our car to find kias tearing at the seals around the windows and the rubber on the windscreen wipers!
Kia
By Angela Lansbury
You don't want to be near a kia,
You don't want it hopping on your car
If it eats your windscreen wipers
You won't drive happily far.
I like a picture of a kia
But I'd rather see its rear
I don't want it to appear
It's great anywhere else - but not here.
Kias make great subjects for photography. I just sat and watched an hour's retrospective of several friends on their hillwalking holiday - from everybody's whats app photos, supplemented by streetview.
The campsite was a great saving on the overall cost of the holiday.
Previous trips we had done several trips skiing in Queenstown on another lake, Puzzling World at Wanaka, and the gold panning attraction in the former gold mining village. I didn't find any gold.
The expense was the trip up the cable car at Queenstown, about 20 pounds sterling. It saves you an hour's walk up, and an hour down again.
All the hikes were wonderful. One takes you up the aptly named Grandview mountain to the vantage point with the triangular marker at the top telling you the elevation.
Wanaka Wining and Dining
Extending the week-long trip over both weekends allowed time for my husband to take trips around wineries.
Amisfield Vineyard Restaurant
A three course meal turned into five courses by the time you added in the two amuse gueles (French for amuse the mouth - free teeny dishes). It's all chef's choice. (Used to be called table d'hote or table of the host.) Red raspberry fruit leaf - looks yummy. Main course was lamb, New Zealand lamb, of course, with manouka - the local tree.
The pink macaroons which came with the coffee were wrapped up to go as my husband was racing for the airport. Overseas, we ate them whilst watching the souvenir videos.
You can take food out of New Zealand, but we would not risk taking anything in. The fines are so high nowadays.
I'm still reviewing my notes on the ingredients of the last lunch. Lots of garlic. Elderflower.
Diners sat under umbrellas around a central oblong pond, outdoors. Piles of hats were beside the pond, presumably for guests to borrow if they got sun in their eyes.
I've marked the restaurant down for my next trip.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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