Hi everyone well here we are in Wanaka drove down yesterday 14/2/06 stopped off in Timaru for brunch and tried to persude David to take a trip along to St Andrews to have a look at the golf club, but it would have taken us about 20km of our road so can't report on that. Had a call from Kathleen while we were there they leave Duniden tomorrow so I doubt if we will see them again in NZ but they have had a great time and they even managed to climb Sydney harbour bridge - they passed the breathaliser!!! said it was fantastic but the thought of our rafting scared her! After Timaru we headed for Mt Cook - this is where Edmund Hilary trained for his Everest climb, passed Lake Tekapo and saw the little Church of the Good Shepherd very quaint, next we came across Lake Pukaki beautiful turquoise water - I tell you you never know whats round the corner it really does get better, David moaned about the trip up to Mt Cook as it was 60km there and back to the road we were heading on to Wanaka, but I really wanted to take the trip to see the glacier so I won. However, when we got there the mist was low - couldn't see the top of Mt Cook and no chance of seeing the glacier oops!! to make matters worse the petrol pumps were out of order and we were running short of fuel so 1st domestic of the holiday! I knew he couldn't keep his mouth shut! anyway we saw the funny side off it i slept on the way back down - told him there was nothing new to see as I had seen it on the way up - I did offer to drive but oh no he was fine. Made it back to Twizel and filled up the car and set of for Wanaka, ran into a heavy shower on the way there - up and down the hills round the mountains god what a road and we hardly passed a car. Arrived in Wanaka about 6pm. David still likes Taupo best but Lake Wanaka is every bit as nice as you will see from the photos. Checked into Wanaka Heights and headed out for a meal at the Thai restaurant, then a couple of drinks in Shooters. David was watching footie on the TV - Surprise surprise - so i got $2 and decided to have a go on the pokies (fruit machine) gods knows what I done but I managed to win $62 so that paid for our night out!! Wanaka is very busy it is like that all year round, it becomes a ski resort in the winter months - we have a lovely two bedroom Alpine lodge overlooking the hills and lake, we had only booked one night but have managed to stay tonight as well. We are now really having to plan ahead as accommodation down here is scarce. This morning we have booked ahead with the i-site for two nights in Queenstown. In the morning 16/2/06 we are taking a small aircraft with another couple up to the Millford Sounds, we will fly over the sounds then sail back to Wanaka. Everyone we have spoken to says how nice it is and the experience of the flight is something else - only problem its a light aircraft with one engine - I am now remembering back to Zimbabwe and that flight over Vic Falls, yeh it'll be worth it - I hope. Today we have been busy in and around Wanaka first we went to the NZ Fighter Pilots museum which was interesting more for David because of his time in the RAF, then we sat at Wanaka Airport - where we fly from tomorrow - and watched all the people getting ready for there tandem freefall, it really looked great fun - David was really tempted but was put off because of his high BP. Next stop was Wanaka Transport and Toy Museum - unbelievable - we have never seen so many toys cars lorrys, heavy plant and junk in one place. It is one mans obsession of collecting over 40 years, you name it he had it. Lastly we stopped off at Puzzling World which kept us frustrated for a couple of hours so much so that we decided to give the maze a miss - the puzzles had us baffled and you will see from the photos it was all an illusion but great fun. David has gone of for his usual cat nap then we are going out for something to eat. I did suggest cooking in and sittiing outside enjoying the view but there is not a lot of fresh food shops. I may have a bit of retail therapy before I go back to the chalet - he won;t know!! love to all Lynne & David