Wanaka: Mount Iron & Eely Point
November 07, 2013
I started hitching along Adamson Drive, sticking out my sign as I walked for about 10-15 mins before I got my first ride. Bernice is going to Wanaka to pick up some driftwood for next winter. She went via Cromwell and stopped along the way to drop some coins into an honesty box. She told me she had bought something the other day and didn't have money to pay for what she had bought so she came by specially to pay. Bernice has a Korean daughter-in-law and doesn't really like Korean food. She dropped me right at the start of Mount Iron track and offered to give me a ride back to Arrowtown in the afternoon around 3pm. She sounded worried about me and asked if I had a sun hat as it was very hot. I wanted to hang around Wanaka for awhile so I politely rejected her kind offer and thanked her for the ride.
I crossed into private land to get an unobstructed view of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. It was absolutely stunning; so beautiful and comfortable in this pleasant weather that I hanged around for 2 hours at the top.
Made my way down, checked out the DOC visitor centre and grabbed a map from the i-site. Figured there was still enough time to go for another walk and decided on the easy Eely Point track along the lake.
Bought some groceries and bumped into HT outside New World. I waited for a long time in town and couldn't get any ride. A man gave me a very short ride (less than 5 mins) to an intersection that will stand me a better chance of getting a ride. Finally at 7pm a blue ute with the Queenstown Lakes District logo (years later I realised that was the name of the Council) stopped. Peter told me he was dropping his mates off and he had noticed me standing by the road when he passed by earlier and decided if I was still there he would stop. Bless him. He sent me all the way to Arrowtown via Crown Range. It was so hot I was burnt that day. The next day I fell sick and couldn't go anywhere when it was my off day, wasted!
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