Narrated by Mike
After our first night sleeping in Wanaka we awoke to a reminder that the climate is noticeably warmer the further north you go in New Zealand . Sleeping in a van really drives that point home as by 7:30am we were baking inside of Dora.

 Our initial plans of doing a trek up one of the nearby mountains also quickly went out the window as the hot day & lack of cover on that particular hike didn’t sound even remotely appealing.

So instead we opted for a bit of a lazy morning, taking advantage of the best (and free-est) wifi we’ve had to date to put together the 2 latest blog posts (well, before this one) before we fell even further behind & catch up on other internet happenings (like the Giants coming all the way back against the undefeated Panthers!!! Only to blow it in the last 30 seconds as usual…. *sighhh*).

Around 11:30am we decided to utilize the bike rentals that our campground offers & go for a nice relaxing ride on the paths along the beautiful Lake Wanaka which has more of the amazing aqua blue water we’re growing accustomed to around here while being totally surround by rolling green hills & mountains and several impressive snow capped mountains.

But first we had to stop for coffee/breakfast at Kai Cafe which was recommended to us by Alaina’s “niece” Johanna who lived & worked in this city last winter. After fueling up with a cappuccino (I’m still getting used to not having a normal American coffee as an option around here – where is Dunkin when you need one??) & a huuuge “Eggs Benny” we were ready to get our biking on.

Yeah… about that relaxing ride. 25+ km later and we are both currently unable to sit on anything without several inches of cushioning because of the butt-bruises from those damn bike seats. The ride was incredibly scenic & worthwhile though – and was much more adventurous than expected with some legit mountain biking conditions going up & down rocky paths along the lake.

We were able to pull over at several great spots to check out the views of the mountains, play on some tree swings & enjoy one of the best playgrounds I’ve ever seen (that seemed to have nearly as many adults trying out the various activities as there were kids).

Once we got back into town we rewarded ourselves with ice cream from Patagonia – another Johanna recommendation for having the best Ice Cream in town. And it delivered in spades. Some of the best ice cream either of us have ever had & just about made up for every single calorie we burned on our 2-wheeled, 5 hour journey around Wanaka.

From there we had to walk our bikes the last km or so back to camp as our butts were in wayyy too much pain to get back on them! Laundry & relaxation ensued as any other plans we had for the evening died as our exhaustion set in. We still made it to the local bar for a quick drink but as we sat there in zombie silence we quickly realized that we were due for a quiet, early night back in the camper. Even as I type this I can feel myself fading awazzzzzzzz….