Count-downing my days in New Zealand, time flew without me knowing. This post features the day we drove from Queenstown to Wanaka, also marked as the hottest day throughout our trip. After days of cold breeze, finally we got to embrace the sun (though our energy level also hit the minimum due to the unbearable hot weather).
There are two routes to choose from and most people will go for Crown Range Road (the highest main road in NZ) as there are multiple attractions along the way. However, this route also features some sharp hairpin turns, which will bring challenges to inexperienced drivers. If you are not very confident of your driving skills, maybe you should go for the longer way via Cromwell (but that will also mean that we will be passing through the same way we drove to Queenstown).
Daddy is a superb driver and thus we had no issues driving past Crown Range. Let's take a look at our pretty photos taken!
Attractions
Crown Range Summit Lookout
Cardrona Hotel
One of the oldest and most photogenic hotel in NZ. If you have budget, you can even enjoy a memorable lunch here.
Bradona
Not far from Cardrona Hotel, we nearly missed this until my aunt was shouting "OMG, so many bras!" Cardrona Bar Fence is a controversial tourist attraction, the idea is to raise awareness for breast cancer, quite a cool photo spot!
Rippon Valley
There are a number of vineyards in NZ, but our schedule had been so tight that I couldn't fit in one during our drive to Queenstown. Finally, we decided to go for this well-known winery (it has numerous number of good reviews online too). Hmm... maybe because we are Asians who couldn't speak good English, the guy wasn't very enthusiastic in guiding us through the wine tasting session, a bit disappointed! We bought mature Pinot Noir, dad said that it was good, haha, I am not a wine person and thus I am not going to give my comment.
Nonetheless, the view here was awesome, which made it an ideal place to take photos.
Wanaka Puzzling World
The Great Maze is certainly the highlight, good for family with kids as the children will definitely enjoy it! But we decided to give it a pass due to the hot weather (and I guess older generations are not very interested as well). We had a lot fun trying to solve puzzles in the puzzle room though (and yes, it's free of charge!)
The Lone Tree Wanaka
The landmark of Wanaka - the tree even has its own hashtag! Very photogenic!
Boa Boa Food Company
If you are looking for affordable but decent lunch, Boa Boa Food Company is a good choice for sure. They are famous for their blue cod and chips, and guess what, a meal like this costs you less than 15 dollars! The shop is kinda small for a big group of people to dine in, thus we chose to take away and enjoy our food at our motel. The food was a disappointment, too oily and the fish didn't taste very fresh.
The Bakery Wanaka/The Doughbin
We also tried the award-winning vegetarian pie from bakery nearby. Personally I still think that Venison pie from Arrowtown Bakery is the best.
Wanaka Gourmet Kitchen
As this restaurant is ultimately popular, kindly make an online reservation if you have plan to visit. Lamb shoulder is the signature dish and definitely tops our list. The portion is big enough for two persons to share. The mint jelly was a pleasant surprise of the dish, loving the fact that it brought a refreshing flavour to the dish. The desserts were delicious too.
Trio of Mushroom Risotto.
Lamb Shoulder.
Accommodation
Manuka Crescent Motel
Somehow all the accommodations in Wanaka that I came across online were really pricey. In order to save cost, I picked one with affordable price and relatively good reviews. The only disadvantage was that it's located quite far from Lake Wanaka and town area (it meant that no scenic view to admire at). Other than that, everything was fine to us. Forgot to take photos =(
Next up will be our glacier hike at Franz Josef!
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