Today we bid goodbye to Queenstown first thing in the morning and took to the roads in another hired car (also a white Kia Stonic, just like before). Our plan is to make our way in a northeasterly direction for the next few days, seeing sights along the way, until we hit Christchurch. So far so good: we saw a number of small but interesting attractions on the way to our lodgings for the night in Wanaka.

Our first stop was the Kawarau Gorge, where a suspension bridge has spanned the river since 1880 when it was built to service the gold mining industry. In 1988 the AJ Hackett Bungy Company began offering the world’s first commercial bungee jumping experience. There seems to be some slight linguistic conflict in the world of elasticized falling; Kiwis prefer “bungy” to the American “bungee”. Regardless of the spelling, hundreds of people per day flock to this site for the privilege of throwing themselves off the bridge. An even greater number, ourselves included, come to watch. Neither of us strongly considered participating, and at $320 a jump the price seemed a bit too steep. Conveniently, viewing was free!

The jump staff calibrate the length and stretchiness of the rope quite precisely to the weight of the jumper. It’s considered a perfect jump if the diver’s head and perhaps their shoulders dip into the water before the stretched cord hauls them back out again. After that they bounce a few more times, before being lowered into a tethered boat that waits below to receive them.

Just a little up the gorge from the suspension bridge is another LotR filming site. This was used in the scene where the Fellowship passes through the Gates of Argonath while traveling on boats down the great river. Picture the two stone statues depicting ancient kings of Gondor on either side of the channel, added by the special effects team in postproduction.

On a tip from two of our fellow hikers we stopped for lunch a bit further on our drive at the Cardrona Hotel, a storied building originally built during the local gold rush. They had tasty food and a charming old-timey decor. Thanks to Lauren and Mike for a great recommendation!

Another Cardrona-area iconic spot is “Bradrona”, established in support of breast cancer research. We’re traveling light, so we had no extra bras to spare, but we got this picture instead. 🙂

Though we’re not big drinkers of hard liquor, when the world’s most southerly whiskey distillery lies right on your path, it makes sense to stop for a tasting. The Cardrona Distillery was established only recently, in 2015, so their whiskies are just now becoming ready for sale. In the meantime, they have also developed a number of clear spirits and liqueurs. We had a nice conversation with the host, and tasted multiple different offerings including their gin and a quince cordial. Susannah’s favorite was the butterscotch liqueur, while Nick preferred the Full Flight whiskey.

After all of these stops along the way, we finally arrived at our destination of the day, the town of Wanaka. While it has many attractions, the one we were most eager to see was Puzzling World, a sort of museum that combines illusions, oddities, and a life-size outdoor maze. We had a grand time taking it all in, and successfully completed the maze’s difficult challenge in under an hour.

The city of Wanaka itself lies next to its eponymous lake. It’s something of a smaller sibling to Queenstown, offering a similar range of outdoor activities and a lakefront surrounded by mountains. It feels a bit more relaxed and less bustling than Queenstown. With more space between mountain and lake there is room for pleasant residential districts studded with beautiful architect-designed homes. Our Airbnb is located in one of these areas, and from there we were able to walk into town along the path that rings the lake. A warm breeze was whipping across the lake, and the clouds above the Southern Alps on the other side made fascinating patterns.

Bird of the day: The Southern Crested Grebe! We didn’t expect to have a significant bird sighting today, but on our walk into town we passed a nesting site for this endangered bird (only about 1000 left in the wild). The birds spend all their time on the water or in the air, being unable to walk on land. They build floating nests out of sticks to raise their young. As part of a restoration effort, these nesting platforms give them a head start in a safe location. It seems to be working; we saw many grebes in and around the platforms, and observed this pair working together to raise a family. The one swimming toward the nest has a fresh bunch of sticks in his beak.

Perhaps Wanaka’s most famous inhabitant is not a person at all, but a tree that has become Instagram-famous. Identified with the hashtag #thatwanakatree, it stands in the lake all by itself, several meters from the shore. Believed to have grown from a willow fencepost planted in 1930, the tree was the subject of an award-winning photograph and now attracts hordes of tourists who want their own pictures — we saw several dozen just while we were there. It has been captured in all seasons and in all sorts of lighting, and is probably the most photographed tree in New Zealand. Its location on the other side of the bay made it a convenient destination point for our walk.

After all that walking, we had worked up a decent appetite, and we were pleased to discover the Big Fig restaurant, which offers “Slow-cooked food served fast.” They have an appealingly simple business model: they offer a buffet of delicious dishes to choose from, and customers may pick any combination they wish. The size of the plate determines both the number of selections available (4, 5, or 6) and the price. Because the food was all so good, it almost didn’t matter what picks we made. So clever, so tasty, and so fast!