South Island Road Trip * day six * Glenorchy, Arrowtown and Wanaka

I was pretty quick to knock Arrowtown, but if we had chosen to stay in Wanaka we wouldn't have driven the Road to Glenorchy, and that would have been a shame. This is a South Island drive not to be missed.

The scenery was magnificent. The road winds along the icy blue Lake Wakatipu. Stretching up from the shore are snow-capped mountains. Remarkable colors... golden rod, muted purples and greys, rusty reds, dark mossy greens... light and shadows everywhere. Delightful sights in every direction.

Glenorchy town is charming. We stopped in at the cafe for morning tea. There was a warm fire burning, simple yet elegant mission style furniture, a beautiful stain glass window, mustard color walls, a grandfather clock and creative art all about... it felt cozy and warm and reminded me a bit of my parents home. After tea, we got the skateboard, scooters and bike out and had a bit of a play on the sidewalks in "town".

We were on a tight schedule - heading back to Arrowtown for the 2pm Autumn Festival Parade. But on the way we made a quick stop at Moke Lake. The kids loved the parade and the craft market. Ben loved the coffee.

Sometimes we don't know when to quit... after Glenorchy and the Arrowtown parade, we got back in the car and drove to Wanaka for a burger picnic at sunset. We transferred all of our sleeping children into bed when we got home.

After we got everyone tucked into bed, Ben went for a night fish at Lake Haze while I edited photos and watched a movie. It was a full day... lots of special memories made.