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On the trip from Fox to Wanaka I drew on a random girl's face (the bus driver told me to). The weather was poor on the west coast but after the Haast Pass it got a lot better. The YHA I'm staying at has some of the best views over Lake Wanaka and I'm staying here for four nights. Sweet. I also left my travel towel in Franz Josef so I'm drying myself with my bedsheets. Mmmm, nice.
So during my stay I met Jonas and Jan, two Germans who I climbed Roy's Peak with. The lakeside walk was beautiful (see the photo) and on the mountain climb we were joined by a hungover kiwi student called Kate. She became almost our personal trainer as we fairly gunned it relentlessly up to the peak, taking in the ever-improving view as we got higher. By the time we'd reached the top, though, the cloud had started to fill the lake and it had gotten pretty cold. And yet again on this trip, my thermos of coffee came to the rescue! Kate borrowed my fleece and gave us a lift back to town before she went back to Christchurch University of all places. Great stuff!
On my second full day I went with Jan and Karin - another cool Swiss-German girl - and her car (Cherry) to Mount Aspiring National Park to do the Rob Roy Valley track. The drive out there was LONG and most of it was gravel track or worse. The walk was beautiful despite the rain in the last half hour of ascent through the valley to a great viewpoint of glaciers and waterfalls. Finally we were back on sealed roads and I cooked for us all.
My final full day in Wanaka was very much an admin day. I bought loads of wireless Internet and wrote tonnes of blogs like these! I also had time to watch Kickass, then go to the coolest cinema I've ever visited: Paradiso! They don't have chairs; they have beanbags, sofas and even a car to sit in while you watch the movie. As if that wasn't enough, they have an interval where they will serve you hot freshly baked cookies and home made ice cream. Yes please! Karin and I lazed on the sofa and watched the Danish film "In A Better World", which is brilliant.
My last act was to read and drink in the sun by the lake and spend the evening with two people who are travelling through New Zealand entirely on foot! Mentalists...
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