After a bit of a false start when the campervan we rented wasn’t available, we left Christchurch after work for a quick weekend trip to Wanaka to get in some late winter skiing. We planned on spending the night in the MacKenzie Basin, a couple of hours southwest of Christchurch. The MacKenzie Basin is an International Dark Sky Reserve and we were easily able to find a camping spot by the light of the almost full moon.
After a rather chilly night we woke to beautifully clear morning, after getting everything packed up in our campervan we continued on our way south to Wanaka. The MacKenzie Basin is also well known for the network of canals that crisscross the area and contain large salmon. We stopped alongside one of the canals for a few minutes to try to catch one of the fish, but weren’t able to get any bites.
We headed straight to Treble Cone just outside Wanaka and had a great afternoon of skiing. The resorts in New Zealand are so different from those in Colorado with no trees, which takes some getting used to. From the front side of the mountain we had great views out over Lake Wanaka towards the town of Wanaka.
Treble Cone is on the way towards the Matukituki Valley where we have hiked in the Summer. Although the views from the front side of the mountain are pretty amazing, the snow in the basin on the back side was much better and we spent the entire afternoon enjoying the snow.
At the end of the day, we headed back into Wanaka and picked up a take-away picnic to eat on the lake shore. Despite it being the middle of winter it was actually a nice temperature to sit out and enjoy the sunset over the mountains.
After dinner we drove around Lake Wanaka towards the lake outlet and found ourselves a site at yet another deserted campground.
In the morning we walked down to the lake to take in the views. During the night a warm northerly wind had picked up and despite the waves on the lake it was really nice in the sunshine. We went back to Treble Cone for some more skiing before we reluctantly made our way back to Christchurch.