From Queenstown to Wanaka

After managing to trap my finger in the car door at Milford Sound (...I'll spare you the pictures....) we set off for Queenstown. So Paddy was spared the daily discussion of who gets to drive ^^ When I asked Kyra what we did in Queenstown, she replied, 'Well - we took care of all our wounds'. Paddy with his thumb (something with the capsule), Kyra struggled with the bites of the (really nasty) sandflies, and I walked around with an ice pack and gel for 3 days.... In short, we are definitely getting old and falling apart :D So we were actually just being lazy. But that's okay, because spring has now fully arrived and the 3 days consisted of strolling around the city, lying in the sun, eating, and sleeping.

Since we are still aiming for the New Zealand Alps, we continued on to Wanaka. Much to Kyra's delight, she was able to check off a heart's desire with the Wanaka Tree (a big shout out to Kyra's aunt at this point - we're diligently working through the travel book').

Yesterday we climbed the 1386 meters to Isthmus Peak. Before that, I spoke to an Italian guy at the campsite who described the view as 'fucking incredible' and said we should definitely do it. So we did (with Jenny in tow, because we really wanted to sing her a birthday song at the summit :D). Even though we have already seen a lot, New Zealand showed itself from a completely different side once again...and yes - it was incredible! We were lucky to be accompanied by the sun for the 3 hours on the way up, and when we arrived at the top, we were able to relax in the sun for over an hour before we made our way back to make it in time before it got dark.

......we're excited to see what else will enchant us in Wanaka. Tomorrow we're heading to the next big track.