Wanaka - Days 1 & 2

Saturday 25th Nov

The main reason I chose to be back so soon in Wanaka, had I not been kindly invited by Ross, was to go to the Scottish Ceilidh they were hosting tonight in the Fancy Vinyard at the hot of the hill! Yes, you read right, a Scottish Ceilidh in Eanaka New Zealand. Some others of you might be even this that this is quite a common occurance in a country with so many Scottish expats loving in it, but attually this was, as far as we and the organisers knew, the first ceilidh in a VERRRY long time! Therefore I didn’t want to wear myself out through the day so that I’d have lots of energy for dancing the night away later on. 

In the morning Ross, in his poor semi-crippled state (he’s injured his Achilles and has been in a cast and crutches for a while now, and much to his dismay will still be in the moonboot for the foreseeable future)  drove me round a lot of possible walks and places to visit and things to do! All things he’d have like to do too but either couldn’t or shouldn’t in his state. This took a good couple of hours and I decided on the two walks that I’d like to do this weekend, and spotted a few more for when (I hope) move back here in January!! 

After going back to the house with Ross for a coffee I then took my own car and headed for  Mt Iron, a small hill compared to the neighbouring mountains, that shouldn’t take more than an hour or so. It was however the hottest part of the day when I decided to do it so it was a struggle but I did get up and down within the hour. Good exercise! 

I got back to the hose just as Ross and Jack (the 3rd flatmate) we’re leaving for a wee mission/camping trip to the west coast where one of their pals had a jet boat and were already there fishing. Neither of them fancied ceilidhing so left me in the capable hands of Tom, who was equally as excited as me!! 

Tom got dressed in his kilt and cap (a funny kiwi blend of Scotsman) and we headed in a taxi, picking some other folk up on the way including Ian from yesterday, the rest I hadn’t met before but we all quickly became pals. 

We all had whiskys in the first five minutes and the dancing was quick to follow, and It was such much fun that I hardly took any photos!! Tom and I even managed to squeeze in a Scottish dinner! Yippee!

 

IT WAS SUCH A GOOD CEILIDH! I ended up helping keep an eye on some dances to help the caller and the band, but I danced a lot too and had a different partner for almost every dance. Made some good connections too , work ones included, but not going to talk too much about that as they may not pan out, but keep tor fingers crossed for me anyway! 

It was VERY late when I got home but since Ross was out camping he gave me his bed, which after camping and hostelin for the past few weeks was TOTAL luxury! Thanks everyone for a great night!! 

Sunday 26th Nov

Slightly hungover today but I had made vague  tipsy plans to walk up Rocky Mountain and around Diamond Lake with Ian last night, and what better way to clear the cobwebs than a sweaty hike! It was HOT and steep but we did it! Ian is a mountain runner so not only was he not breaking a sweat, he’d also normally run this route for fun!! Haha madman! We did move at a slightly faster than snails pace to allow me to keep up but it was a great hike and totally worth it for the views along the way and the view at the toon ! Did I mention that it was also really hot!! 

 

The hangover was completely gone by the time we got back to the car and it was also past three so after getting back to the hose and showered it was dinner time! 

All the guys were back home tonight so after making a yummy pasta dinner we all just chilled in front of movie. Very nice and semi productive hangover-day!