Friday started with a beautiful sunrise at around 5:30AM. I can tell you that it sure wasn’t me taking the pictures but they were nice to look at.
We said goodbye to Mount Cook, well to what we could see of it. This is what it looks like most of the time. We were pretty fortunate with our timing.
We headed south and followed Lake Pukaki it until it ended just before Twizel.
We stopped in Twizel for gas and found out that the town was built specifically as a residential base for workers on the Upper Waitaki Hydro scheme. The plan was to bulldoze it after the project was completed but too many people wanted to stay. The population did shrink after the completion of the hydro scheme but it is still a vibrant town. The current focus of the community is tourism.
We stopped just outside of Twizel at a Salmon Farm and bought half a salmon. The price was very reasonable for fresh salmon. It is going to be our New Year’s Day dinner.
There was an area we wanted to see so shortly after the Salmon Farm we headed into the Lake Ohau area. It was about a 25 kilometer detour to the lake and it gave us a chance to have lunch and take some pictures.
The remainder of the drive back to Wanaka was on the same highway we used to get there so we didn’t stop for many pictures. Just a few here and there.
We arrived back in town early enough to get set up before all the festivities started. We had a nice dinner from a Thai Restaurant in Wanaka and then just enjoyed the evening until the fireworks started at Midnight.
HAPPY NEW YEAR Everyone
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