NZ- From tree to trees

Day 3 in New Zealand, we got up and drove toward Lake Wanaka. I’ve been wanting to see the lone tree in the lake I’ve seen so many photos of. So we headed there and, parked the RV on the shoreline. While I took a bazillion photos of my tree, Beerman made us breakfast. I took my photos, and then we ate breakfast in front of the tree. It was really, really perfect on a lovely Fall morning. (Fall - I know, right?!)

From there, we drove a bit further down a bazillion (only a slight exaggeration) switchbacks, to get to Arrowtown.

Along the way, we stopped at a roadside stand for some eggs. Beerman had eyed up a few stands prior to this, and just couldn't help himself when he saw this one. "This is why we're doing this by RV!" We got 6 duck eggs and moved forward.

Arrowtown is a beautiful little area, but we moved on pretty quickly. Because when you’re traveling with an 11 year old, art galleries and scenery and yarn stores aren’t really how you’re occupying your time.

So we pressed on toward Queenstown.

And if we didn’t know it before, this was totally an 11 year old boy's speed - quirky and fast and crazy. We found a nearby campground, plugged in (we're beginning to understand how these campgrounds work now), and walked the 5 minutes into town.

We promptly booked a zipline tour for later in the day. After seeing a little of the town area, we made our way to the gondola, which took us up the mountain with some gorgeous views.

When we got to the zipline, it was just C-man and me along with our two guides. Apparently the 5 p.m. tour is the one to take if you want to be alone! C-man was quite nervous, but as soon as he went down one zip, he was hooked (literally and figuratively).

After we were done, we went to the Kiwi Haka show. It was a quick show, but we all got to learn the dances. C-man and Beerman got to learn how to do the Haka – something C-man is keen on trying before his wrestling matches now.

We’ve been debating whether to move on to Milford Sound or stay here in Queenstown. Milford Sound has penguins and wildlife and fjords, which would be fantastic. The problem is getting there and back would take a minimum 2 days, with quite a few hours of hard driving. If it were just Beerman and me, I think we’d do it because it's supposed to be so fantastic.

But with an 11 year old who is game for just about anything but asking to 'do more stuff, not just look', we’ve decided to stay here and skip it. It will be really nice to not drive a long ways tomorrow, and just let C-man enjoy some crazy stuff that New Zealand has to offer. I suppose, with this sweet face, who can say no?