Welcome to Wanaka!

Yesterday I arrived in Wanaka, and I absolutely love it! 
The location of the town is amazing. It’s right on Lake Wanaka, with Mt. Aspiring National Park as the backdrop. Right from downtown you get an incredible view of the snow covered peaks bordering the lake.

Lake Wanaka is the second largest lake in NZ and is known for its endless activities – wake boarding, kayaking, paddle boarding, skiing, swimming, hiking, etc.
It’s a smaller town (est. population is 6,900), but supposedly triples population in the summer months. I think in the past several years it’s become really popular with the “backpacking” crowd. Tons to do and cheaper than Queenstown (the “adventure capital” of NZ about an hour south.)

Today I went on a walk/hike on one side of the lake, called the Glendhu trail. Both a hiking and mountain biking trail, it winds along the lake giving incredible views! I’m not sure how far it goes but I walked for at least 3 hours, one way, so it goes pretty far.

The trail was much different than most NZ hikes I’ve been on. Most of them have been in rainforests and shaded, but this was completely open. It was a hot day today too!

I’m not sure what these flowers are called, but they were everywhere and just gorgeous!

I can’t believe how blue and calm the water is. There were a few bays I passed too, and the water was crystal clear.

And I even passed a vineyard!

As you’re walking, you’re going towards the mountains – quite a view to take in! It was a little cloudy but you can still see all the snow covered peaks.

I also did another short walk up Mt. Iron, which gives a great view of Wanaka. While the downtown is small, you can see they have quite a lot of housing developments!

Tomorrow I’m off to do Roy’s Mountain, so stay tuned for pics!