We lured mum out for a hike on the west side of Lake Wānaka.
It would be easy, we said. It would be short, we said. We’d go for a swim in the lake, we said. It turned into a hot, 20km-long trek with a strong headwind and no swimming. Oops!
First thing, it was very calmA wanaka wannabe tree
Driving out to the trailhead, we saw a lot of roadkill as well as many live rabbits.
The track, like many others we’ve been on, had traps for mammalian predators, but this time, we found some full ones.The wind started early and persisted all day, making today the only day we had no wish for our bicycles.It is hard to show wind in photos, but it was a hold-onto-anything-you-don’t-want-to-lose kind of day.
We watched clouds zoom by (in a different direction than the wind and waves). White caps foamed and cloud shadows slid by on the surface of the brilliantly coloured lake.
After seeing nobody else at all, we stopped for a break on a little knoll protected from the wind.Out of nowhere, a tour of 5 Jeeps parked beside us and disgorged their contents of lazy lazy tourists who trooped by us as we lay sprawled on the trail.Felicity is a master of what we’re calling “Canadian sunbathing”. Mum is less expert at this and some of her important digits were left out to get toasted. We’ve seen many bumblebees – far more than any other kind of bee or wasp.
After an hour or so (when some of us napped), we headed back to our home base for Thai food. Then we packed up our gear, to be ready to fly to the north island tomorrow.
BC by Cycle 