NZ : Wanaka - Eco-friendly Nature Gangster.

We started out bright and early on our second day in Wanaka and attended to some business like buying hats, sending postcards and sourcing a giant airmail parcel for all of the winter clothing and trinkets we are about to send home before Asia. A little spot of further market research was in order as we stopped at a cafe to yam down cheese scones, drink more loose leaf tea and freshly ground coffee whilst critiquing the bland decor of the coffee shop.

Whilst knocking back the dregs of our drinks we received a text from The Boys inviting us on a drive in the Jeep out to Ahuriri National Park for some walking and shooting.
The drive out was long and winding, the scenery was spectacular in the basin of Lindis Pass surrounded by towering mountains. The air was cold and crisp, we could see each breath blow out before us. Traipsing through the snow really cleared out the cobwebs.

We pulled up to a little hut with only 4 beds and a tiny fireplace. The hut had a woodshed and chopping block where we got over enthusiastic hacking up logs with an axe to keep ourselves warm. This was the starting point of our walk through the winters woods. We kitted up with a boom box and Frisby, all wearing our finest beanie hats and hoodies ready for our Eco-gangster adventure.

 Being in the middle of nowhere meant that we could pump up the volume to our hearts content as we jumped from side to side over small creeks, stopping to admire the icicles which had formed and were hanging down from the bank.

Gordie and Jimmy introduced us to the art of tree pushing, where fragile dead trees are easily toppled to the forest floor by repetitive toing and froing. We went ferral on those trees. Never have we had so much fun running around in nature. We saw a variety of different coloured and shaped fungi and marvelled at moss soft enough to curl up and camp out on.

As the sun set we made our way out of the woodlands back to the warmth of the car, tossing a frisbee between us as we went (which we subsequently lost, oops) Gordie had his rifle in the boot and Jimmy had brought with him a cross bow, as we made our way out of the park Jimmy was hanging from the passenger seat window James Bond style shooting at the hares highlighted in the headlights. Jimmy managed to shoot and swiftly kill the first hare we saw, with Gordie not too far behind with the second one, which certainly gave him a run for his money quite literally.
Having caught enough hares for dinner it was our turn to have rifle practice, we shot at bottles and felt just a little bit badass using a scope for the first time.

We put the hares on the roof and headed back home for dinner, stopping on the way at the summit of Lindis Pass to stargaze through Jimmys telescope and snack on cold rice pudding, we were all huddled in a blanket as the weather dropped to -3 C.

Back at the boys gaff Gordie gave us a lesson in skinning and gutting a hare. After he had demonstrated with the first we were set to task on the second. Both being medically minded we swiftly removed the fur/skin of the hare and got our hands stuck in to remove the innards, inspecting all of the organs with curiosity and even dissecting the heart to look at the anatomy. Gordie prepared a real treat with the back fillets of the rabbit which he pan fried to perfection.

After a truly immense day we crawled in to the den for our last nights sleep in Wanaka before venturing to the big and exciting city of Queenstown.

Thanks goes to The Boys for such an excellent stay and some mad cap adventures.

Peace and love,

Jan (Virgo II) and Susie (Saggitarius II)
Out of the unordinary.