Franz Josef to Wanaka

It was another early morning departure. This day I would be traveling to Wanaka, en route we went to Lake Matterson, which is famous for its 'View of the view”, the mirror reflection of the lake on the still water. We had about one hour here including breakfast time, we did not manage to go to the very end as our legs were a bit stiff from the full day hike and we were enjoying the beautiful scenery hence walking too slow. Every photos taken seems postcard like and the view was absolutely magnificent.

The weather was gloomy, so we did not manage to stop at Haast River for a pinic lunch. Upon reaching Wanaka, we got changed and went to the lake - Lake Wanaka. This is New Zealand's fifth largest lake. We did not choose to do any activities and it was a free and easy day. Bonnie and me had a good time absorbing in the views and taking tons of photos. The scenery was really stunning, with red or orange leaves, nice lake, very peaceful and autumn like. Jas, if you were here, you would have loved it.

Oh, one very embarrassing thing was that Bonnie and I got lost after going to the supermarket. The street lamps were not as abundant like Singapore and every streets looks the same. We went to this house and knocked on the door to ask for direction. Initially, this guy gave us a very straight face like he was thinking “what the hell are these gals knocking on my door” kind of look. After knowing we were lost, he couldn't help but sneaked a smile, like “these bimbo”. But he was still very helpful and directed us to our hostel. Well luckily, I still know how to read the map, really must thanks the people that forced me to read maps, really helpful in situation like these. However, I am still poor in recognizing the road.

Wanaka is one of the few places that I think staying at Base hostel was better. Location wise it was very centralized and the supermarket was just next door. The hostel seems very new too. But if you were afraid of too much party people there, then staying at BBH Purple Cow was a good choice. It was just beside Base, outlook seems nice and the review for it was quite good too. YHA was too far from town (maybe because of this I got lost - just need to blame on somthing) and I think the place was there for quite long and hence a bit rundown. One thing I like about YHA is that there are hair dryers attached to the toilets which is very convenient for late showers when washing the hair. At least we did not need to wait for the hair to dry.