Omarama to Wanaka
Again we made breakfast in our motel room this morning because we wanted to get on the road early. We had another big day ahead of us. We will conquer Lindis Pass today.
It was very cold as we were on the road before the sun peeked over the mountains to warm things up. But off we went, a steady climb out of Omarama for the next 35 km or so until the pass. Check out the pictures.
The last couple of kms before the highest point of our day were fairly steep but other than that we did okay. Once at the top we stopped for bite to eat, took a celebratory picture and began an exciting descent. The drop took quite a few kilometers and was thrilling. The scenery may have been nice, but we weren't looking at the time.
As you can tell by the pictures until we started to get into some lower countryside, there wasn't much in the way of trees at all. At the top of the pass, the land was very barren, but it was beautiful non the less.
Our faster ride continued right up to noon when we stopped at a cafe for lunch. Then we turned and travelled inland for an additional thirty km to Lake Wanaka. The wind picked up at this point but we were able to make reasonable time. Again, great scenery with horses, trees and as we neared out destination we saw some parachuters enjoying a nice ride down from xthousands of feet. That would be fun.
It's nice here. A nice lake, in a nice town with nice shops and nice tourists. Very nice. Have I mentioned it is nice?
STATS:
Distance: 116.15 km
Time: 6:20
Average: 18.32 kph
Max: 62 kph
Temp: 6-30C
Weather: Sunny
