Wanaka is a lakeside resort town nestled along the crystal clear waters of New Zealand's fourth largest lake, Lake Wanaka. It attracts two kinds of tourists; the adventurers and those with relaxation in mind. We fell into the second category.
Hiking on Lake Matheson and Fox Glacier followed by a 4-hour scenic drive from Franz Josef to Wanaka left us exhausted. The accumulated physical activities of the previous weeks had started to take its toll.
It was Day 17. Before making our way towards Alpine Motel and Apartments, our pre-booked accommodation for 2 nights, we went shopping at Wanaka's busy supermarket.
It was bursting at the seams with vacationers and local tourists on their summer holiday. We purchased a few wine bottles and stocked up on local beers and moscato - 2 of our favorite apéritif beverages during our entire trip.
While the family lingered in the supermarket aisle of eggs in the middle of an ongoing discussion on free range eggs versus regular eggs, I disappeared and headed towards the cheese section for some brie and camembert . After almost three weeks in New Zealand, we started forming habitual product preferences and familiarity with their prices.
Where We Stayed
Alpine Motel and Apartments
Back in our car, we made a u-turn at the roundabout towards Ardmore Street and spotted a sprawling row of apartment style rooms with a huge trampoline at the corner. That was our home for the next 2 nights. We immediately checked in and the remarkable thing was, they had a huge playground for children. It was a mere street away from the heart of town teeming with bars, restaurants and cafés. Moreover, Wanaka Golf Course was also our next door neighbor.
After a tiring day on the road, the convenience of having a devoted parking space for free right in front of your room offered great relief in loading our stuff in with ease. These may be trivial things, but they do matter at the end of the day.
Wanaka Food Trucks
It was late in the evening and we were too tired to prepare a home cooked meal. We walked around town instead to see what was available. We spotted Wanaka Food Trucks, an open area occupied by several food trucks on Brownston Street.
Most of the food stalls started to close. I darted towards the taco truck driven by a sudden strong craving of burrito. Unfortunately, I missed it by several minutes. We ordered boxes of delicious pizza from Francesca's instead, an interestingly designed food truck with its own wood-fired oven. It must have been popular since there was a long waiting list before our order.
Chill Out Day
It was a unanimous decision. Day 18 was chill out day. We stayed in bed longer than usual with our habitual bread and butter with black coffee for breakfast. Maman and I prepared a vegetable risotto for lunch in our well-equipped apartment kitchen and by early afternoon , the family leisurely strolled in town along Lake Wanaka and the town center.
Restaurants, bars and cafés bordered the lakefront and were filled to the brim with vacationers. Lakeview apartments sprawled all over the suburban hills with an abundance of bicycle and pedestrian paths to enjoy the landscape. Just perfect, the temperature outside was an ambient 24 degrees Celsius that day.
Mt. Alpha Fire
We lingered around Pembroke Park where we watched several helicopters took turns to drop monsoon buckets down a smoking burnt mark on Mt. Alpha. There was a large fire the day before we arrived that burned almost 200 hectares of steep hill pasture. We were all curious as to what ignited the flare. Apparently, a resident discarded ashes from an outdoor fireplace. Several tourists like ourselves stood around the park to watch choppers fight the blaze and it went on for several days.
Hiking Trails
Mount Aspiring National Park is the prime destination for serious hikers while staying in Wanaka. It boasts 750 kilometers of tracks to be explored.
Roy's Peak Track is the most popular of them all which starts at Mount Aspiring Road, just 6 minutes away by car from Wanaka town center. It is a 16 kilometer trail which would take 5 to 6 hours to trek and climb the 1300 meter high summit.
If shorter tracks are right up your alley, there are short walks along Makarora on Haast Pass Road. Check out this [video](https://travelfeed.io/@discoveringarni/an-epic-road-trip-from-franz-josef-to-wanaka-haast-pass) of our scenic drive through Haast Pass.
Eely Point Track, Blue Pools Track, Haast Pass Lookout Track are some of the short walking tracks that are highly recommended by the i-site tourism guide.
Speaking of which, they have a free downloadable "Wanaka Tracks App" for walking and cycling available in Apple and Android.
Beacon Point Walk and Town Stroll
It's a short 1 hour and a half return. We walked along Wanaka Lakefront along a clear shoreline track towards the Yacht Club. My daughter played briefly with other children at the Dinosaur Playground while we sat on the benches.
As an architect, one of my hobbies during leisurely strolls is staring at people's houses. Whenever it allows, I look through windows to check their home interiors. I know that sounds creepy but fret not, I have no malicious intentions whatsoever. It's driven by my curiosity, how houses are often a reflection of their homeowners, how they were designed and what improvements could be done.
In Wanaka, I had the luxury of doing so. The lakeside road was lined with beautiful modern vacation homes with tall glass panels fronted by wide terraces that were visible from the track. We continued towards Eely Point Reserve and onwards to Beacon Point.
The lake and the mountains kept us company throughout the hike but what was equally interesting were the back streets. Real homes with well manicured lawns and carefully planned landscape drew our attention. The scent of barbecue and the sound of laughter flowed over their fences. It somehow painted a picture of what a typical summer holiday was like for the Kiwis. The festive January air was felt throughout Wanaka in laid-back fashion.
Other Things to Do and See in Wanaka
Play Golf at the town's golf course.
Apart from outdoor activities; water sports, swimming, mountain biking, and hiking, wander around Wanaka Lavender Farm.
Get lost in a great maze in the bizarre Puzzling World.
Visit the National Transport and Toy Museum, composed of 4 buildings that houses one of the largest private collections in the world showcasing 600 vehicles, 15 aircrafts and 60,000 toys and other items. or Get nostalgic at Warbirds and Wheels Attraction, a complex of privately owned classic cars and motorcycles with wearable creations.
Watch a movie in a classic movie theatre at Cinema Paradiso or at Ruby's Cinema & Bar.
If you have plenty of time, learn to fly an aircraft or learn paragliding in Wanaka.
My Takeaway
Wanaka is an ideal destination to go hiking, fishing, kayaking, skiing, golfing, wine-tasting, sailing, swimming, extreme adventure activities or flying. Personally, we didn't see as much nature spots as we should have in Wanaka, particularly its neighboring Mount Aspiring National Park.
Even though we skipped all of the adventurous activities recommended here except for a short lakeside walk, we still enjoyed our 2-night stay in this lively buzzing town. It left us plenty of opportunities to unwind, relax and recharge for the upcoming adventures we have planned ahead.
Thank you for reading. Travel with us to Queenstown in my next post. To be continued...