On the road

 Joan and I are back in Wanaka after a very enjoyable Easter weekend at Y-Nak. We were very close to the Pacific Ocean on the far East side of the South Island of New Zealand about a 250 kilometer drive from Wanaka. The ride was rolling hills and a little mountainous on the usual two lane road  As always it was very scenic dotted with farms, cattle and lots of sheep.  We were in no hurry and unlike my driving in Arizona usually a little below the speed limit.  Our ultimate destination was the Douglas Family compound called Y-Nak.The name is derived from the Waianakarua River that runs through the property. A member of the family came up with the short easily pronounceable nickname and it stuck!  The Y-NAK property has been in the family since 1915 and consists of hilly terrain and a massive amount of trees, trees that did not exist in 1915. The Douglas families have worked the area for 108 years and continue to this day with multiple projects going on even now.  While there are only two Douglas families living there full time there are constant visitors. Annie's family has the "Stone House" built int the middle 70's. Dan and the family visit often and the kids are always finding new adventures. Joan and I were delighted to get to stay in Rob and Sue Douglas’ house while they were staying at Dan and Annie's home in Wanaka. We did a lot of hiking and it was especially fun to go down to the river and watch Molly retrieve sticks in the river, try to skip rocks and do our best not to fall in.  The path down is quite steep and we “old folks” were reminded many times to be careful. Hopefully the following photos do the property a little justice. 

 A big thank you to Annie, Dan, Phoebe and Jo for keeping us fed with delicious meals and a warm fireplace! We had a couple of very rousing poker games with Dan as the constant dealer firmly enforcing Las Vegas rules. The set of poker chips was put to good use and everyone played like it was real money. The jokes, the insults and the fake pain of watching someone get an inside straight with the last card added to the fun. The final match included Jo, Joan, Dan, Phoebe, Malcie and me.  A real battle until Joan went “all in” and drew her needed last card to wipe us all out. By the way we played Texas Hold’em. We taught Jo, Annie's mom, how to play poker this weekend and she took to the game like a pro.

 

On Easter Sunday night Dan and Annie treated us to a special sight seeing event. We drove northwest about 20 miles to the ocean to seeing a nightly tradition.  The unique Timaru Penguins, like clockwork, come out of the ocean at sunset after a day of swimming and feeding.  These are the smallest penguins at just 15 inches tall. It was amazing to see these very small creatures come out of a very rough sea onto rocks which would kill humans and scurry up a hill and head for their night shelters. In total about 90 of them in groups of about eight came on shore. Very tough little guys. They were close to extinct until a program was put into place to save them. They are now numbered in the thousands. Photography was forbidden so no actual pictures but I did take a snap of a picture in the tourist area. It came out ok so you can see them below.

 

The following day we packed up for the ride back to Wanaka but first went to the beach again, this time in a southernly

direction to see one of the great mysteries of New Zealand, the Moeraki Boulders, a group of almost perfectly round large rocks sticking out of the sandy beach. They range up to seven feet in diameter and are thought to be 4 to 5.5 million years old. You can certainly Google them for further information. They are really a sight to see and there were many people strolling down to see them on a rather cold, damp late morning. Hopefully the photos do them justice.  

 

After a few hours we got back on the road and headed to Wanaka. Another beautiful ride through the same type of scenery but on a different road. It’s hard to not be distracted by the views and this time Joan unjustly accused me of driving a tad too fast!!

 

This coming Sunday morning we are flying up to Wellington, the capitol of New Zealand, for a three day touristy visit.  Details when we return.