Paradise (Wanaka/Queenstown)

During our holiday in 2004 we really found “Paradise”. I will explain later in this chapter.
We stayed for a couple of days in a motel in Wanaka. Wanaka is a little village on the shore of Lake Wanaka. Surrounded by mountains and you can imagine that this is a fairy tale environment, especially if the mountains are covered by snow and the sky is blue.

Wanaka is the operating base to go to Mount Aspiring National Park. But we didn’t go there. We drove the Crown Range Road through the Cardrona Valley to Queenstown. And even not once but twice. The reason we did this twice was the weather. The first time the sky was a bit grey but to I fell in love with the Cardrona Valley, really love at first sight. The flowers were beautiful and in spite of the grey sky, it was still really GREAT. What else can I write to express my feelings about this area? It is quiet, rustic country but so extremely colourful. Maybe we were at the right time of the year. So I advise you to go there at the end of November, or the beginning of December.
Near the Cardrona Hotel it seems like they live still in the beginning of the 19th century.

So the first day of our stay in Wanaka we drove through the Cardrona Valley to Queenstown. It was a big surprise that the top was covered by snow and actually we were lucky that the road was open. Queenstown is known as the place were everything is possible and this everything needs to be very fast, dangerous or adventurous. So you can go skydiving, jet boating, paragliding, canyoning and of course bungy jumping, this has been invented in Queenstown. We just strolled through the little streets, along the shops and we took the cable car to a vista point. We enjoyed Queenstown, though we didn’t expect this, because Queenstown used to be full of Japanese tourists. But this has changed. It was a great day, the only minus was the grey skies so we were not able to take the photos we wanted.

Though we had a tight time schedule we decided to spend another day in this region. I did read in the Lonely Planet that you could actually find “Paradise” near Glenory. Glenory is a very small hamlet on the head of Lake Wakitipu. And a scenic drive brings you from Queenstown to this hamlet. And close to Glenory you can find Paradise. This is a paddock with a name but although New Zealand felt as paradise to me already, it was a challenge to find the real paradise. This day the sky was bluer that you can ever imagine. So the Cardrona Valley was like a painters pallet. We could take the same photos we made the day before but now with a blue sky. And the scenic drive from Queenstown to Glenorchy was unbelievable. The clear blue water of Lake Wakitipu, snowy white mountains mirroring in the water and than again the clear blue sky. No words can describe this sight. I hope the photo gives you an idea.

Near Queenstown is Arrowtown, an old gold diggers village. We did not have to time to visit this touristy place, we just drove through, but I think it is worth while a visit. Another thing you certainly have to do when you are in Wanaka is visiting Puzzleworld and this in really not only for kids and don’t fight in the maze.

Abel Tasman National Park

That I start with the letter A is just a coincidence. It is more that I particularly like this part of New Zealand. When John-Paul and I were still dating, he showed me a video of his trip to New Zealand in 1997. He went together with a friend ( Henk) and they walked a part of the Abel Tasman walking track. I knew directly that I wanted to see these beautiful beaches. So when we planned our holiday, the Abel Tasman track was one of our main goals.

You can visit this Park in different ways. Most famous is the 4 day walking trip. Starting either in Marahau or Totaranui. But day hikes are also a possibility and kayaking is getting real popular. We had the intention of doing the whole track. If you like to plan this you start at:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/Explore/001~National-Parks/Abel-Tasman-National-Park/index.asp
We planned the date, we checked the tides, booked the cabins and arranged a water taxi for the pick up.
We did a good job with the planning but we did not have the right experience so it all ended different than we expected, but we really enjoyed the spectacular views of the white beaches and clear blue seas.
But because I want to share our experiences with you and I like to give you some advise, here our story of the Abel Tasman walk.
We stayed a night in a cabin at the Marahau camping. Because we had to start early in the morning we repacked all our stuff and we packed our day packs for the trip. We hired some cooking gear, bought easy to cook noodles and cup a soup. We parked the car at a secure car park at another camping and we were ready to go. We planned to walk to Bark Bay Hut. Actually this is the second hut, but because of the time, we had decided to walk the track in three days instead of four. Looking back I think this was a wrong decision. From Marahau to Bark Bay Hut is 20 Kilometer and the travel guides and the website say that you can walk it in 7 hours. The first hut is Anchorage Hut and this is 4 hours. Normally you would say: " 7 hours, piece of cake!!", but with a burden on your back, it is not so easy. So it took us around 9 hours, including lunch break, to get to Bark Bay hut and to be honest, we were broken. And than, of course we knew that the hut was not a 5 star hotel, but when we saw the bunk bed of 7 mattress next to each other, we know that maybe we were a bit to old for this kind of fun. Now we can laugh about it because we know what we have done wrong.
The scenery along the walk was GREAT and you definitely have to walk the track if you have the chance, but do in in four days, or like a lot a people do, take a water taxi and walk a part of the track and go back to your hotel.
So we decided to take a water taxi back to Marahau and not to continue our hike, but because the nature is so absolutely magnificent we already have been back and walked the part from Totaranui to Awaroa. The next time we will go to Abel Tasman NP, we will take a water taxi to Bark bay and walk to Awaroa. So we will certainly complete the whole track.
Not only do we like the Abel Tasman NP but we also Takaka has a special place in our harts. Takaka is a small village close to the Totaranui entrance of the Abel Tasman NP. Takaka is not only one of the Gateways to the NP but also a great start point for trips to the Farewell Spit and other interesting points at the far North of the South Island. In Takaka we stayed at the Golden Bay Motel. Not a modern place to stay but clean and the owners are very friendly.
We did not go out for diner in Takaka, because I prepared tea myself, so no information on this subject. Let me know if you like more information about the Abel Tasman NP and Takaka.