The 4.5-hour drive between Milford Sound and Wanaka required a big southward dip before turning north to take us along Lake Wakatipu almost back to Queenstown. From there, we left the green and blue of the water’s edge to cross the barren landscape of desert tan and scrub brush of the Crown Range.
Albert Town/Wanaka was primarily a layover between Milford Sound and Mount Cook/ Aoraki National Park. When I’d planned this trip, I thought we might be in need of a washing machine at this point in our travels so had prioritized that. The Albert Town AirBnB turned out to be much more than that: lovely, quiet, very comfortable, budget-friendly and a short drive to Lake Wanaka and downtown. Our host hobbled out to greet us with a truly harrowing story of a hang-gliding accident six months before from which he was only just recovered enough to walk, albeit gingerly. Hang-gliding was already off my list, but this confirmed my choice. Our host had done hundreds of flights before his accident, but when I asked him if he’d fly again, he gave a firm no.
We started a load of laundry and had only a bit of time to kick back before dinner reservations at Kika, one of the top-rated restaurants in town. Kika has a laid-back vibe with tasting menu and an interesting variety of sharing plates. A big, free-standing stone fireplace stands in the center of a minimalist dining room in dark tones with plain wooden tables and chairs. We ordered a creative cocktail, followed by several fun small plates and local beer. Our little cabin in Knobs Flat with our simple homemade meals had suited our time in Fiordland National Park, but we also enjoyed this pleasant return to civilization.
With so little time, we got up early the next morning for a run to Pembroke Patisserie, just a short drive up the road from our AirBnB. Pembroke provided a taste of France in little Albert Town. It was packed with locals on a Saturday morning. We packed up after breakfast and drove back into Wanaka to walk around the lake, snapping photos of the gorgeous waterfront and the Wanaka Tree. (See my lead photo above and you can checkout #thatwanakatree on Instagram for thousands more photos of the iconic tree.) After our short but thoroughly enjoyable stay in Albert Town/Wanaka, we were off to our next stop which I was really looking forward to: Aoraki/ Mount Cook National Park. If only we could get as lucky with the weather there as we had at Milford Sound!