The south island's west coast drive will be easily one of the most scenic routes you will ever drive in your lifetime. Be prepared for winding mountain roads, snow capped mountains, crystal clear flowing rivers, rain forest walks and more. This part of New Zealand is a remote and vastly untouched piece of wilderness. Most long haul driving trips are monotonous but this drive will definitely keep you awake.
We woke up bright and early after our unfortunate night and set out on the road towards Wanaka. Wanaka is a small ski town an hours away from Queenstown and it is there that we decided to stay a night before heading to our main destination.
I'm quite angry at myself that I didn't try harder to take more quality photos. I was still quite unfamiliar with my camera at the time. Then again, I'm almost sure any 'good' photos I could have taken would not have done this route justice. You just have to go to truly appreciate how beautiful this part of New Zealand can be.
Nevertheless, I decided that this post didn't really require too many words so captions should suffice. Many of the places we stopped at before Wanaka are obvious stops along the way with signs etc.
Driving like a snail behind a herd of cows. Definitely a sight never seen in Brisbane.
Foggy lake made the park look eery in the morning light.
Gotta have some fish and chips when in New Zealand
Who eats ice cream in 10 degrees weather? Danny does.
This was a fun place to break up the drive. It seemed so faraway from humans despite evidence of other tourists being here from the different attempts at rock stacking.
AND we made it to Wanaka! Our first stop at Wanaka was to go to Puzzling World. With a small entrance fee you get to go inside a museum full of illusions, puzzles and this really awesome physics defying room. The room is slightly tilted but from your own perspective it looks like a perfectly normal room. As soon as you step inside you get all disorientated and giggly because the tilt of the room just does not compute in your brain.
Apart from that, there was a big maze outside where the goal was to find the access points of each of the coloured towers. Surprisingly difficult!
Roasted chestnuts are perfect for the winter.
Again, I wish I had taken more photos of the town itself. It really was unique and beautiful. Lake Wanaka can be found in the middle of town and the water is so pristine it reflects the surrounding mountains. The town itself is quaint and comfortable. Postcard ski resort town. We stayed a night here, ate Japanese for dinner (as you do) and rested up to prepare for a day to go skiing and Treble Cone.
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