We had another long drive but beautiful day, traveling from Fox Glacier to Queenstown stopping by Wanaka. Distance covered: 350km.
I started my day with a run. As I mentioned, I am not following regular run schedule during this trip but will run if I feel like it. It was one of those days. I went out at 7am, greeting cute animals along the way, then I ran through the lake Matheson trail that we walked the day before. It was raining a bit and many walking already that early.
We packed up and left 9:30am. Our first stop was Fantail falls
with many rocks stacks nearby, Lizzy made one too.
The road toward wanaka had stunning view, especially when we reached Wanaka lake. It’s so big and beautiful, we stopped at many lookouts.
this is the view as we drove through
then daddy got a bit tired and asked for a 10 min nap, so we stopped at a campsite at 2pm.
we arrived Wanaka and found the loneliest tree in the world. Not lonely at all as the lake beach is full of people, and many tourists taking pics with it.
we got crepe for lunch/snack and groceries to make dinner at our airbnb in Queenstown
The road from wanaka to Queenstown was beautiful but at one point, I got so scared as we passed by crown range road. It is the highest main road in New Zealand. It reaches an altitude of 1121 meters, and 7 hairpins! My gosh, my HR got very high as we went down through the road. If I had known that I would have chosen the other slightly longer road. Fortunately, daddy remained calm and confident.
I enjoyed looking at these purple plants, so pretty.
We got to our Airbnb past 5pm. It was super nice to be in a nice and cozy airbnb after over a week of staying at motels.
Tomorrow will be an easy day in Queenstown to give daddy a break from driver triple digits.
Our New Journey 
That tree! I can see why tourists like to snap pictures with it 🙂
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It reminds me of California, not green and lush but more arid and dry. Lovely though! I hate getting on roads like the one you described, high up with hair pin turns. Nerve wracking. I wonder if you would have been less frightened if you were the one driving? Sometimes feeling in control helps a lot.
I’m glad you got in a run before the long day of driving. I don’t run, but if I have a long day of mostly sitting, getting out for a walk before and/or after really helps.
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Stunning photos! I wonder if that lake with the lonely tree is a dam?
It reminds me of a similar spot in Switzerland, though ours features a church bell tower rising from the water instead of a tree!
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It’s on the beach of the lake, very strange and cute.
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I loved queenstown so much! I hope you guys are having the best time. Hairpin turns are nerve wracking. We had some stressful drives in Maui, sometimes on one lane roads. Yikes! Phil is the driver. He tells everyone to not do the road to Hana in Maui because of how stressful the drive was!!!
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