Day 5 [Arrowtown, Te Anau] Yet Another Day of Travel

DAY 5 OF OUR NZ TRIP AND WE STARTED TO SENSE A RECURRING THEME IN OUR SCHEDULE. Long hours of driving, extended grocery shopping, team effort cooking and night under the stars. Breakfast is usually an “on sale” milk plus the cheapest cereal on the shelf. We then take turns driving, heading to our next destination, ranging from 50-150 kilometers away. We usually stop for a quick-lunch and side trip before we arriving at the destination. Before checking in, we often spend a long portion of our afternoons buying tonight’s dinner at a supermarket. We had to compare prices so it takes up quite some time.

Today we stopped at Cromwell for fresh fruit ice-cream before arriving at Arrowtown. Arrowtown is a fancy little town, with crowds lingering at its greenstone and sheepskin souvenir shops. Once a gold town. this establishment is now a crowded summer touristy community. Arrowtown Bakeries well known for its pies, which we gladly gobbled up for lunch.

Breakfast = Cereal + Oat milk + On sale yogurt (Joy of the day)

Gigantic fruits on display in Cromwell

Natural fruit ice cream in Cromwell

“THE THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE, FIRE, FIRE…” The Kiwi radio station is constantly playing this Bastille song, as well as any song from Lorde’s repertoire. The road en route to Te Anau, being a part of NZ’s wild Fiordland area, is often scenic and mountainous. Te Anau if compared to Wanaka, is a smaller and easier town to navigate. Both proudly show off their beautiful lakes, which are smack middle in the town. We stayed at the Te Anau Holiday Park, with cabins near to the lake, and a kitchenette for us to cook our dinner, again. The day is never complete before our ritual visit to the local supermarket. This time, we hoarded more food in preparation for our trip to the wilderness the next day.

To somewhat stray away from our schedule, I took a slow jog around the lake. It was a fine evening, many locals and tourists were enjoying themselves at the lakeside. Schoolchildren were swimming by the lake, and some tanning away on their “beach”. Alas, all has to go back to routine. Dinner with great companions, men’s talk under the stars, a lovely trip planned for the next day. If all this blissful standards become my daily habits, I am going to stay relaxed and not complain.