It certainly was a welcome treat to meet up with some familiar faces. We pulled into the Top10 Holiday Park (NZ campground with cabins also - **see below) in Wanaka and met up with Gar and Nicole whom we know through our friends Zack and Marion Lodato of Leavenworth, WA. Gar and Nicole sold nearly everything they own, including a houseboat in Sausalito, CA and have flown the coup. They are on a 4+ year odysey around the world. They have an amazing sailboat that is currently in dry dock at Auckland Harbor and it is their hope to circumnavigate the globe and have land adventures along the way.
We met up with them at the Top10 and went out for meal to chat and talk about plans for the following day. We talked about making a hike locally but the next day the Wanaka weather was not exactly cooperative and none of us were willing to risk saying to the other that we wanted head for the hills so we strolled the beach of Lake Wanaka, made a nice dinner together and went to the movies that night (American Gangster). We really enjoyed meeting up with them and sharing in their adventure for a short time. You really should check out their website for a taste of real adventure:
www.svdreamkeeper.com
After a nice morning with sunshine and light winds, we parted with Gar and Nicole who headed out in their Toyota Hiace diesel van. We headed out north also. Our ride took us past Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka with rolling, open hills. The wind picked up later and was headed straight at us once again. We stopped in at the DOC (Department of Conservation - NZ forest service/Park service) for some advice and continued on through the beech forest to Cameron Flats. We met up with some cattle being herded along the way and later a herd of sheep. Seems pretty typical for these parts.
Cameron flats is situated on a small bluff overlooking the Makarora River and the amazing valley that slopes down from Haast Pass (564m). The valley is gorgeous with tall grass and beech forest on its flanks and a turqoise river through it. We made a quick hike down to the river to see the "Blue Pools" enjoyed the sites while we made dinner before the sandflies descended upon us.
That evening we met a lovely Dutch couple, Jen and Jeroen, from Amsterdam. We didn't know it then but we would spend the next 5 days with them on our trail north. More about that in the next posts.
**PS - a note about NZ "holiday parks". They are awesome. Not just campgrounds. They all have communal kitchens, showers and toilets that are very nice and convenient. You can stay ther in RV or tent and most have small cabins you can rent for a reasonable amount and the renters still use the common facilities. We are really enjoying these accomodations and look forward to seeing some of these in the US, maybe even one of our own???
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