Jan 1: Queenstown to Boundary Creek Campground (Lake Wanaka)

January 1^st!  The start to 2012.  We’ve been working on our list of 2012 Adventures and Intentions, and it was nice to take some time to think about the year past and all that it had to offer.  Lisa also had the good idea of adding a ‘burn list’ to our 2012 reflections—things we were ready to part with and leave behind.

We decided to start the day and the year with a paragliding jump off the mountain.  There is a nice hike up instead of the gondola which took about an hour.  Then we got strapped in and did a tandem leap.  It was a perfect day to soar over Queenstown, taking in all the views.  Both of our pilots gave us a taste of the “g” (g-force), and by the time we landed we were definitely feeling the champagne from the prior night.  We had full intentions of doing the bungy swing to top off the day, but now that we were both headachy and nauseous decided to pass.  Plus it’s easy to drop loads of cash on all these activities, so we figured we'd give our wallets a break too in search of calmer pastures.

Onward towards the West coast of NZ.

Driving on State Highway 6 (SH6) was absolutely stunning.  Super windy mountain roads with lake views and neon blue glacier streams.  We found ourselves at our first DOC, Boundry Creek Campground.  Now THIS is the camping that I was imagining when coming to NZ.  Only a few sites and nestled up against Lake Wanaka.  Got to set up my Kammok and take a nice nap.  Here is a pic of me in the hammock, solar charging my phone, drinking a local beer, and reading my book.  That’s perfection to me for a New Year’s Day.   

There was a nice lawn to do Acro, and even some Tahitian kids that were visiting joined in.  One of my intentions for 2011 was to jump into handstand, so here’s a video of that year’s work (a whole year! and lots of practice still needed, but I have to remind myself that progress comes in small steps at times. . .)

This year I’ll work on holding it for 20 seconds.  I love goals.  :)

We cooked a yummy dinner of mashed sweet potatoes with local Manuka honey, and some organic Mushroom and Marscapone soup.  And of course a bottle of local Sav Blanc.  A sweet way to welcome in 2012.