Wanaka

We somewhat enjoyed our epically long drive from Greymouth to Wanaka, although the weather was very dreary and we were feeling the painful aftermath of the previous night. We drove by Franz Joseph, on of the two glaciers, but felt un-inclined to leave the warm car for a rainy walk. So we continued down the windy road, and stopped in the wonderful town of Haas, which holds 3 buildings, a gas station and a few houses. We had a disturbingly expensive lunch, that left our tummies in a very sore state, and continued on our drive down to Wanaka.

By the time we arrived in Wanaka and found a place to park, the weather was taking a turn for the better, so we were able to enjoy our diner alongside the sunset. We were waken the next morning be someone banging on our window. Groggily I woke up to be told by a man that there WAS NO FREE CAMPING IN WANAKA. So we drove ourselves over to the nearest campsite and went back to sleep. After doing some laundry, we wandered around the town and made plans to go River Sledging the next day.

River Sledging is like white water rafting, but you are on your own sled. We geared up in wet suits and helmets and headed down to the river with about 7 other people. We had a bit of a lesson and then we were off. It was very fun, and would have been funny to watch. They attempted to keep us all in a row, which on our first trip wasn't overly successful. Our second time around was much more fun. We ripped down the river through the rapids doing pirouette turns and barrel rolls. Ashley attempted the cowboy style down one set of rapids, but quickly got a sled in the face, which she wasn't too happy about. We did a bit of cliff jumping, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I ended the day by turning around on my board, lying on my back and soaking up some sun!