There's This Place Called Wanaka

The next stop on our New Zealand journey was Lake Wanaka. Picture a smallish quaint town right on the water with a serene and relaxing feel and there you have it. Wanaka was the perfect place for us to finally catch up and get rid of our jet-lag.

View from our hostel

Kids at heart

Isn't this just adorable?

We spent 7 hours on a bus- met some nice German folk on the ride- and arrived mid afternoon. Our hostel, Wanaka Bakpaka, was absolutely the cutest place ever. Not exaggerating. We spent that evening making dinner, journaling, and drinking the wine we had bought earlier that day in the lounge over looking the lake. It was peaceful and just what we needed.

Master Chef Abbey- making instant pasta...

Fun Fact about Wanaka for all you LOTR fans out there- the cast actually stayed in Wanaka during down time in 1999. I just pictured Orlando Bloom chilling on the beach and I was content.

The next day we went to this really cool little theater called Paradiso Cinema. They have different movies playing every day, couches and other funky chairs instead of normal/boring movie theater chairs, and an intermission where you can buy the best homemade ice cream and cookies you will ever have. Abbey and I saw Philomena (which is just amazing by the way), and sprawled out the couches like we were in our own homes.

yeah, you can watch movies in an old Beetle. It's freaking cool.

Of course we had to take in the scenery and spend a few hours on the lake before we continued on, and it was so perfect. Not to hot, not to cold, lots of people swimming in the lake and sunbathing on the beach, with not a care in the world.

We hopped on a bus that afternoon, and were on our way again. We would have loved to spend more time in Wanaka, but at least we got to stop and see it.