I didn't have to worry about getting up early this morning because I had no bus and no excursions booked for the day. Due to this I attempted to have a lie in although in the end I woke up at half 7ish with all the people leaving this morning for the next part of their journey. I went straight out for WiFi this morning, and after taking advantage of the plentiful supply I went back to the hostel, using the disabled shower which had a seat inside it! Breakfast this morning was toasted french stick and scrambled egg, a nice way to set myself up for the day.
In terms of what to do today I really wasn't sure, although I knew it would probably revolve around hiking or geocaching to make for a cost effective day. In the end I opted for geocaching, and after passing a glimpse of the football en route to the lake front I sat down to plan some geocaches. Due to the fact the geocaches were so sparsely situated around Wanaka and I only had my walking power, I was left with a choice of either walking round the lake then up a mountain, or round the other side of the lake and through countryside to the neighbouring Albert Town. I opted for the latter, mainly because it presented more geocaching opportunity but also because I fancied something other than climbing a hill!
My first cluster of caches took me out of town past the residential outskirts along the lake side. It was a good half hour walk before I arrived where I needed, bumping into a local who knew exactly what I was doing. Despite his expertise, I was unsuccessful to start with although I found it eventually, followed by a good chat with this local about the local area and his passion for bouldering which I had briefly stopped him doing. I then continued through the streets to this big housing development where they were selling plots of lands instead of housing. I had to go over a hill to these mountain biking tracks however which resulted in me going through bushes and then up a cliff before finally getting the find!
Continuing through this cracking area for mountain biking along these dirt tracks, I got a dnf at my next attempt. Despite this I continued on and after dropping quickly through these coniferous forest I got to a point where I had to climb up a really steep hill. It was very hard work with rocks constantly giving way but up top I got some cracking views of Lake Wanaka, this time on the undeveloped side. Whilst up here I found another cache, and from here I began my walk to the neighbouring Albert Town.
Crossing through open countryside and farmland through the rolling hills, I eventually reached the main road which I followed before turning off to the river for another find. The next find took me more into Albert Town through this parkland area and up a hill where I got yet another find. Whilst up here I met a fellow geocacher and we had a good chat about geocaching, although conversation was difficult as he was foreign! My next find proved to be difficult due to the fact I had to navigate out of town with just a gps and no map which took me round in all directions. I eventually found my way to the main road, which led me to the river which was home to my next cache.
I then headed out of Albert Town down the Hawea River where I got a dnf at my next attempt as there were some gypsies a little close for comfort at the final location. They looked a little dodgy, so I continued on to this newly built swing bridge which amuses me everytime, to get yet another find. I ended up having lunch here as I had been walking for over 4 hours by this point. Lunch was cookies and hot cross buns, and I only made it a quick lunch here as the fact I had walked 4 hours out of Wanaka, even if it was the long way round, meant I had to get back again somehow!
I ended up following the same path back to the main road when leaving, passing this apple tree which was a welcome source of free food for me. When reaching the main road I followed this, the plan being to follow it back to Wanaka. It ended up being a pretty sizable walk in the end, although before long mount iron came into sight and I quickly realised that my next cache involved me having to climb it! Getting up the hill wasn't anything demanding, it just took me for a big loop round the side of the hill before actually beginning to climb it. After getting the find up top however, the views were simply stunning once again, and it was nice getting views of Albert Town and where I had walked, as well as a birds eye view of Wanaka when beginning my descent down the other side of the hill.
When reaching the bottom, getting another find in the process, I worked my way back into Wanaka after a pretty long day in the end. Despite finding 9 caches, I walked over 6 hours to find them which gives you an idea of how spread out they were. I had a good look round the shops when at the bottom, although it appears I may have to make my hiking trainers last as trainers are really expensive here as they only seem to have specialist outdoor shops in NZ. When getting back to the hostel I felt pretty good although my feet were a black colour like always after a good hike.
After a fair while relaxing in the hostel, I popped into New World to get some supplies for dinner both tonight and in Queenstown as Queenstown doesn't have a big supermarket despite being the tourist capital of the New Zealand. Whilst in here someone who was a member of staff said hello to me, and I then twigged that it was fellow geocacher I had met! Before cracking on with dinner, I took a walk along the lake front to get my final two cache finds of the day. They were both quick finds and it all worked out really well getting the sunset whilst walking along.
Dinner this evening was a steak pie with fried potatoes and onions, something very ambitious by my standards although I somehow pulled it off! It did take longer than expected however. I then spent my evening by the lake front using the free WiFi, although it got uncomfortable after a while with all the sandflys so I went back to the hostel. It was all the same old story in the hostel tonight, although there was a kiwi v stray bus challenge which was rather amusing. Kiwi bus won which was the main thing! It was then off to the bed, falling asleep whilst talking to others this evening to show how tired I was!
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