With the change in seasons, April means the end of Summer Daylight Saving and the clocks move back into Winter time. The trees are all golden and the leaves are just clinging on for a few more weeks..
We just had time for one more big hiking trip into the mountains before it got too cold, so the weekend before Easter Suzie and I headed up the Rockburn Valley. It’s way off the marked track so we had to concentrate on our navigation once we arrived at Park Pass which is deep in the Mt Aspiring National Park. We slogged up a very steep, long slope to finally achieve our objective, the beautiful Lake Nerine, set high in the mountains. From here we continued on around to North Col which is the head of the North Routeburn River. The final day saw us descending in some thick fog down to the river valley and out to Routeburn Flats Hut. It was a fantastic 3 days, very tiring but super rewarding!
Easter saw many people arrive in town to enjoy the holiday period and the wide variety of events that were on offer over the break. One of the bigger attractions was the Wheels At Wanaka www.wheelsatwanaka.co.nz vintage car, truck and tractor show. Held just out of town at 3 Parks , many thousands of people enjoyed the 3 day event with displays and demonstrations of all sorts of vintage machinery, from earthmovers to old Landrovers and everything in between!
After Easter we had the biennial arts festival, the Festival of Colour www.festivalofcolour.co.nz a wonderful week of theatre, dance, speakers, and street art. We saw amazingly diverse performances; from 20 Asian people on stage talking about their experiences of living in NZ, a wheelchair dancer and his able-bodied partner suspended from trees in the park doing a beautifully choreographed dance, and a conversation between 3 experts on climate change and the challenges facing us. Fascinating stuff!
Towards the end of April it was time for the ever-popular Wanaka Autumn Arts School www.autumnartschool.nz.nz which always sells out well in advance. Classes held over the week vary from year to year but most recently included painting, singing, writing, fly fishing, stencilling, textiles etc etc , some people attend every year as it’s a chance to learn from the experts. At the end of the week there is an exhibition of some of the work produced. Check out the programme if you are interested for next year.
April is certainly a busy month for events, there really is something for everyone! Don’t forget to book your winter ski holiday, our 7 night special of $1995 for 4 people in our apartment is still available for some limited dates. Email for more details or look at the website for up-to date-availability. Use code: ski2021
Take care
Caroline and Suzie :)
