Uphill both ways

To get our hike on (& our Asian weight down), we had a morning and afternoon hike.  We were inclined to summit the smaller peaks, which in the AM meant a great view of Wanaka.  

In the road again, T passed the switchback driving test in style.  I took the wheel for a heartbeat, then we pulled over to a scrim lookout to watch a drone fly.

This thankfully gave me the chance to give him back the wheel.  When I wasn’t bearing down on the armrests (like the kangaroo did to my hand with its sweet potato), I managed to take a brief video of the last one!

At the bottom, Queenstown with all its adventure activity awaited.  After a stroll by the lake, we went up a “hill” to enjoy the views and see the paragliders sail down.  Again cursed with not enough time and many compelling options, we drove outside town to set up van for the evening.  A group of kiwis backed us into a spot and insisted we grab chairs and beers for a chat.  T swapped sports knowledge as they were volunteering at the NZ Golf Open and asked him if he was into gridirons (aka football) or soccer (which they thought we called football).  I didn’t have the heart to confess that I thought they were called Kiwis after the fruit, not the bird, but I doubt this jovial group would have minded!

The climbs were all paying off.