Lake Wanaka
On Saturday morning Feb17th we picked up our Maui Ultimata self contained Mercedes Camper Van from Queenstown. It is 7m long and 2.8m high but not very wide. Tony drives and I navigate. This combination works well, I love looking out of the window, choosing the music, taking photos and reading out snippets of information and Tony doesn’t mind the driving. Our first stop was a wonderful Saturday morning farmers market right next to this amazing mountain range called The Remarkables in Queenstown.
It has been really nice to be able to buy and then prepare meals with fresh fruit and veg, the most delicious lamb, cheese, muesli, macadamia paste and Manuka Honey. We have hardly eaten in restaurants since starting our camper van journey. Admittedly our van has a fridge, stove and barbecue, quite luxurious. We even have our own little toilet and shower, very handy in the middle of the night!
I forgot my handbag in the supermarket toilet on the first day and when I rushed back, it had been handed in with money and phone- phew!
Our first stop was Lake Wanaka (title picture) yet another stunning lake overlooking mountains and a cute town which was buzzing with people as they had their annual triathlon that weekend.
Our camping space overlooked the lake and we met Tatjana, an Eben relative who is travelling around NZ at the same time as us. 
We shared our first ‘campground dinner’ with her, having bought local green beans, potatoes and a rack of lamb at the farmers market earlier that day.
Tatjana’s aunt (Tatjana’s mother’s sister) is buried in Wanaka. She was a mountaineer and died age 27 trying to climb Mount Aspiring in 1972. Apart from Tatjana’s niece nobody of the family had ever been to the grave. It was particularly important for Tatjana to see the grave as she remembers the policeman coming to the door and telling her grandmother that her daughter had died. It was a terrible shock for the whole family particularly as the grandmother had already lost her home, 2 husbands and her brother in the 2nd world war.
It felt nice to be there with Tatjana on Sunday morning.
Our next stop was Cardrona whiskey distillery which does not yet sell whiskey as the caskets need to age another 8 years, but we bought some rather spicy gin, which has an interesting taste. On the way is a bra fence- nobody knows who has started it, it now supports breast cancer charities.
more in the next blog
Tony and Friedericke travelling 