Why not Wanaka

Looking at the map of Wanaka, something spotted my eye, ‘Wastebusters oppshop’. Anyone who knows me well understands that this is paradise. A huge recycle center with old school clothes and the rarest toys. I convinced the boys to go there, saying they can always drop me off. That moment I had to overcome something. So much stuff, but no room in my backpack. With pain in my heart I left empty handed, except for some cd’s to play in the car. There was also a time limit because we made an appointment with a girl who was interested in adopting our Steve. A strange feeling to think about selling our car, but we had to financially. It was time for Steve to go on another adventure. The girl seemed really interested but also allowed us to use Steve for another week. This meant we could still do Mt Cook and Lake Tekapo. God bless her! The rest of the afternoon was ‘rugby time’. First England played and afterwards it was the first Lions game. A good night out with some curly fries and beer to flush it down with.

Next day I was motivated to do a good walk. Around Wanaka there was ‘Rob Roy’s glacier’. It was an hour drive, partly on gravel road, but totally worth it with the views. We walked through the forest, crossing some bridges and ended up on the glacier viewing point. It was the first glacier I’ve ever seen and I was well impressed. Can’t say it was the most beautiful hike I’ve ever done, but the fact that I could be adventurous and sportive again felt amazing. On the way back we ran down the hill, just like little kids! The way my body feels after was amazing, so relaxed and 10 kg lighter. It’s a good type of tiredness especially when there’s gold nights to come. Back in Wanaka we met Chris on the campsite. Chris and Damien worked together in Raglan and he will be joining us on further travels. We were starting to create a little group and I loved it! Especially being the only girl saves me from a lot of drama sometimes ;)

Damien had a great plan for the next morning. He wanted to hike ‘Roy’s Peak’, a walk that was described as ‘extremely hard but worth it’. The plan was to wake up at 4.30, hike up to the peak and see the sunrise from there. Getting up in the cold wasn’t the easiest thing to do, leaving those warm cozy duvets, but I was extremely motivated for a good walk! It was still completely dark and so many stars in the sky! With our head torches we started the walk up and we weren’t the only ones with that idea. The walk was completely uphill and we split up walking our own tempo. Me and Max went in front and waited occasionally for Damien to arrive. Until he didn’t arrive anymore. We waited and waited, getting ice cold, but no Damien to be seen. Max went back, searching for him. We honestly thought something had happened. For half an hour we were screaming his name without a reply. I had to keep myself warm walking up and down the same 3 meters. Max said he’d find me on the top but he was using my head torch and that made it way too dangerous to walk on the edge of a mountain. Max returned without Damien and there was nothing we could do but just walk to the top. I think it was one of the heaviest walks I’ve ever done. On those last km’s I completely crossed my boundaries. My legs were about to collapse and I couldn’t control my breath. Note to myself: Exercise more. Max pushed me to keep going and we reached the top. It was magical to see the sun coming up. The view was stunning and even though I was almost dying, I felt so alive. Reaching the top, we weren’t the only ones there. A group of 10-15 people were gathered to see the sun coming up. And guess who was there? Damien of course. He’d taken a shortcut that we missed. But we were so happy to see him! We also saw 2 German girls we hang out with in Raglan again, what a surprise! It’s always great to see people again.

The sun was warm but the wind was ice cold. Just by standing still for 5 minutes you’d go from heavily sweating to feeling like an ice cube. Going down was way easier but painful for the knees. It was only 11 am but the three of us were just starving. In town we noticed a good deal in one of the restaurants: 10$ pizza if you buy a drink with it. Looking into each other’s eyes we didn’t even have to speak a word. Breakfast pizza it was! We were all pretty dead after that and decided to take a siesta aside the lake. Just a relaxing night with some basic cooking, warm duvets and some game of thrones. Getting energy for the next adventure.