Wanaka, Hokey Pokey Ice Cream, and TBE list...

 Another shabby sunrise in Wanaka...

We have been thorough in our journey covering the terrain between Dunedin and Wanaka, which is only a good three hours drive west from Dunedin. 

 The drive from Dunedin to Naseby was filled with amazing rock outcroppings...

The first night out from Dunedin we camped in the Naseby forest, known by locals for its fun mountain bike trails through its forest.  While the trails were fun, we wanted more.  We continued on to Alexandra, known for being the stone fruit capital in New Zealand as well as having the least amount of rain.  Alex, as her friends call her, is on the Otago Rail Trail, a 150km long (dirt, perfectly maintained) rail trail stretching from just outside Alex toward Dunedin.  People from all over the world come to ride this "trail" through the beautiful terrain on the south island.  Alex was a cross between Colorado and Santa Fe, New Mexico.  It was obvious there were trails to be ridden, however when we woke in the morning, the weather had made a bit of a shift to blasting chilly winds, rain, and after we ditched the riding idea altogether and start driving toward Wanaka, snow in the not so distant mountains.  We also learned that the weekend we were heading into Wanaka, so was the rest of the world.  There was a large A&P Farm Show, similar to a state fair in the US, and a very large point to point mountain bike race, the infamous Matutapo finishing on Saturday. 

 A beautiful, left hand drive Impala parked at the A&P show gave us great joy...

There were no accommodations within the town so we ventured a few kilometers (forgive us for referring to distance in kilometers but we are doing our best to make the transition and any little bit helps) out of town to the quiet domain of Luggate. 

 Quite possibly the largest bellows we've seen in the historic Luggate Hotel

We also met up with some friends of Zeph's, who were on holiday on the south island as well.  With Rich and his wife Raven, there were now four of us to camp and tramp around exploring the area together.

 Gluten-free crepes/clatitas make camping not too rough...

It is funny because Wanaka is the younger innocent sibling to the highly commercialized and internationally known Queenstown, which is only an hour through the mountains south.  And, Luggate, is the younger, innocent, understated sibling of Wanaka.  Beautiful and quiet, Luggate is surrounded by the same beautiful mountains as Wanaka, minus the lake and this weekend, all the people. 

 Can't measure wind chill in photos but we assure you a bit too chilly for us to ride...

The next day Zeph and I ventured out on our mountain bikes to see what kind of success we would have exploring on our own (with local maps but no local recommendations).  At the same time, Rich and Raven ventured out on their own for a hike to the Rob Roy Glacier.  Our ride ended up being just what we needed being a nice, three hour "spin" on the Outlet Trail, all the way to Lake Wanaka's neighbor, Lake Hawea.  It was a beautiful ride next to the Clutha River, over bridges, completely on a relaxing, rolling track...We came back into town to meet up with Rich and Raven again for one of the best dinners we have experienced in New Zealand at The White House in Wanaka.  We'll apologize now for not providing (or taking for that matter) any pictures of this meal as it was too good...we were so consumed...too consumed to even take pictures (it does, evidently happen).  I had a salad with grilled Haloumi, roasted beets and carrots, hazelnuts...and Zeph had a venison meal over lentils that melted (literally) in your mouth.  Brilliantly enough all four of us had dessert and it was a bit like a dessert lazy susan as we all got to sample one another's finishing plate.  Rich had a Chocolate Apricot brownie with fresh ice cream, Raven had a roast pear with fresh ice cream and carmelized hazelnuts, Zeph had Avogado, which is fresh vanilla ice cream with an espresso shot and a shot of frangelica liqueor, and I had poached figs with blue cheese and cumin shortbread.  Again, our apologies there aren't pictures.

A little bit of flowing singletrack is never a bad thing...even walking!

We are a bit besides ourselves with Wanaka.  It originally wasn't even on our itinerary until we went to the Alpine Epic bike race and met a handful of people from this amazing little spot (we have since noticed we have yet to meet anyone from Wanaka that aren't blissfully happy and in phenomenal shape).  Then, along our travels, we met more and more people who had lived or owned or vacationed in Wanaka and all of them got this glazed over look of love when they reflected on Wanaka.  We'll do our best to describe her but please keep in mind sometimes words can only go so far.  For outdoor enthusiasts such as ourselves, there is a never ending list of things to do here.  It is in the mountains and it does have four seasons, however it is also high desert and only snows in town a couple times a year.  It is minutes to snow fields and amazing, flowy singletrack (trails) are EVERYWHERE.  It also has good personality and only about 7,500 people residing here.  The second day here our new friend Ollie, took us on a fantastic (four hour) sampling of Wanaka's best trails.  We had a fantastic time and even after the first day we were now understanding why everyone seems to love this place. It is set on the edge of Lake Wanaka, offering water sports to the long list of other activities.  Fun times. 

 Lake Wanaka...season duration- October 1 thru Septermber 30

We also managed to find a fantastic place in Wanaka serving fresh fruit ice cream, which has become one of our favorite delights.  They take fresh (or frozen) fruit (such as blueberries and blackberries), then combine them with either ice cream or frozen yogurt (the real stuff without the three hundred ingredients and preservatives the frozen yogurt in the US has) and push it through this extractor to make...fresh fruit ice cream (or yogurt).  It is heaven.  It only got better as they served Hokey Pokey ice cream at the same joint so we could each get one and share the other.  Heaven...especially after a 3 or 4 hour ride!  Hokey Pokey ice cream is second only to vanilla as far as flavors consumed in New Zealand.  It is a confection made out of golden syrup, that when mixed into ice cream leaves these perfect little crunchy pockets of carmel here and there.  If you ever have the opportunity to try this flavor, do it!

 Fresh fruit ice cream all the way...blueberry & blackberry to be more precise

And a little Hokey Pokey ice cream makes for a complete meal...

We have also noticed that in the three days we have been in Wanaka, we have been going non-stop.  Wanaka has almost worn us out (in the best of ways)...A three hour ride the first day, a four hour ride the next, and today we did a 3 hour hike that was, at last straight out of Lord of the Rings scenery, up to the Rob Roy Glacier.  Rob, is a hanging glacier that words (again) cannot give justice. 

 The drive up to the Rob Roy glacier was beautiful...

Swinging bridge, maximum capacity of 5 people...a little sketchy even with 2!

 The beautiful glacier gorge below Rob Roy

 Rob Roy's beautiful glacier waters

Imagine a Yosemite-type canyon with the Bridal Veil Falls to the 10th power, and a glacier on top, feeding all the falls, all about 1,000 meters above the trail.  Breathtaking and beautiful, Rob delivered. 

Picnic of deliciousness...we'll refrain from telling you how much of that fresh, warm bread we ate...

We enjoyed a picnic of fresh baked bread (from the bakery this morning), local cheese and salami, organic apples, and some infamous RJ's licorice.  Quite an epic picnic spot only about an hour's drive north of Wanaka. 

This brings us to our TBE (The Best Ever) list...otherwise known as a top ten list...thus far!

1. The Best Ever ice cream- Tie between Tangos fresh fruit ice cream and Hokey Pokey ice cream
2. The Best Ever seafood- anywhere in this country, just not fried fish on the Cormandel Peninsula
3. The Best Ever river- the Clutha river, winding from Lake Wanaka to Lake Hawea with its pristine turquoise color and clearness...you can literally see to the bottom of the river where it is 15-20 feet deep
4. The Best MTB trails- thus far tied between Rotorua and Wanaka, more research needed in both places
5. The Best Ever whooping on a mountain bike- Day 1 of the Alpine Epic mountain bike race...5 1/2 hours of heat, strong (70+kph) winds over undulating (famous word used to describe most this race by the race organizers even when they were over 1,000 meters off in describing the vertical ascension for the day)
6. The Best Ever venison- The White House, Wanaka
7. The Best Ever farmer's market- Otago farmer's market in Dunedin on Saturday mornings...sorry SLO, but more organics, fewer people showing crack, and the smell of nitrate free bacon won us over
8. The Best Ever hot springs- tied between Hanmer Springs and Lake Tekapo on the south island with Rotorua's hot springs on the north island
9. The Best Ever seafood restaurant- Fleur's, fresh off the boat (no exaggeration), understated, simple, amazingly fresh to the core, Fleur's delivered and then some
10. The Best Ever licorice- Tie between RJ's licorice roll and RJ's chocolate filled licorice roll