It rained all night and was still pouring when we woke up this morning. I was over it. We are in a place that is known for its great hikes and views, and both have been shut down for us due to the rain. The beautiful mountains all looked like this:

And as we drove past the ocean, our view was this:

After about an hour of driving, the clouds parted, literally and figuratively. It had been about 4 days since we’d seen blue sky and it felt miraculous.

We decided to tack on an extra hour of driving so that we could go to a remote and highly regarded seafood restaurant in Jackson Bay. This required us to drive along a road for a while until the end of it, where, according to the reviews, we’d be able to eat the freshest fish imaginable while watching dolphins swim in the sea.

At the end of the road we were stopped by this gate. A fellow confused traveler walked in and saw that the road was blocked by downed trees from the rains. We were disappointed but still in good moods because of the sunshine.

We noticed we had stopped next to a sign for a pioneer cemetery and decided to stretch our legs and check it out before getting back into the car to drive the same road back. It was strange. Definitely something we wouldn’t have even noticed had the road not been shut down.

We drove on and 45 minutes later reached our first stop, the Raging Billy waterfall. It was a very quick hike to a waterfall that was in fact raging. My photos don’t do it justice.

Millie was easy to spot among the green as she ran ahead of us on the trail.

From this point on, the drive was breathtaking. I have a bunch of terrible photos from inside the car. My attempt at capturing what we were seeing. But none of them can really show the vastness of the water, shape of the light, and emptiness of the mountains.

Our next stop was Blue Pool. This was another short walk to where the river comes together to form some pools. We dipped our feet in but it was too cold for us. Plenty of braver people were fully submerging themselves in it.

Back again for more unbelievably scenic driving until we arrived at our holiday park just outside of Wanaka.

We checked in, dropped our stuff, and immediately went out in search of dinner in town. We ate at a little cafe on the main drag with a view of the lake. Millie worked on a reading schoolbook and I am kicking myself for not making these the dinner activity instead of her drawing pad. It is the perfect activity to do in 15 minute increments, and we’ve bribed her with dessert if she can finish it.

We have noticed that at almost every restaurant we’ve been to, they’ve played Elton John. It could be a coincidence, or Kiwis just love Elton. We had the same experience in Australia except for Fleetwood Mac.

After we finished eating, we crossed the road to check out the lake. There were people swimming, dogs running around, and lots of families watching the sun go down. Just idyllic in every way.

When the sun ducked below the mountains, the temperature dropped by about 10 degrees. We got too cold and drove back to our holiday park cabin.