Summertime Christmas
We have seen some pretty incredible places in the 4.5 months we’ve been traveling so far, covering 4 continents and 9 countries, from Greek isles to giant pyramids, leopards and lions to the great barrier reef and sand-pooping parrotfish. We have loved every place we have been and are grateful to have visited each, but none have called to us in a way that we could envision ourselves moving there, setting up shop, and calling it home. Wanaka was just such a place. A small town of 6,000 residents on the shore of a huge, glacial-fed lake, it has that magic energy that comes when mountains and water meet. Within an hour of arriving, we had found 3 incredible grocery stores from which to stock up and we knew we’d settled somewhere good.
Christmas on the road is a daunting undertaking, especially when you’re traveling with carry-on bags and have no room to accumulate much in the way of material goods. Add to that kids who still believe in Santa and Christmas becomes a rather daunting undertaking. We wanted so badly to create the magic that Christmastime brings, in spite of the fact that it was the middle of summer, and to make it that bit harder, we were in a rental house half-way around the world. We quickly realized that there was no way to re-create the Christmases of home and that the magic would lie in creating a new kind of Christmas, one that spoke to this year of travel and the place we’d been. Luckily the boys were 100% game to adjust and adapt, diving into cutting snowflakes from pieces of paper to hang on the walls and never once even considering sending a list of wants to Santa as they knew our bags couldn’t hold another thing. We decided to cook all our favorite foods and lean into every summery activity we could, relishing the contrast to the heaps of snow falling at home. We donned helmets and boots and went on a horse-back ride along the lake and through vineyards. We rented kayaks and stand-up boards and took off to explore the lake, docking at each beach we found to jump in for an icy cold swim. We rented mountain bikes and spent hours at Bike Glendhu, an incredibly cool purpose-built bike park just out of town with miles and miles of flow trails and a delicious café at the base serving up scrumptious food and cold beer and wine. We found a hardware store and Will and the boys loaded up on saws and exacto knives, wood and paint, polyurethane and super glue to build small wooden boats and finger surf boards to take to the lake and rivers (while the boys could pretty much care less about toys, they love little more than building things and projects, and Will happens to be the most remarkably handy human I’ve ever met who can make any building dreams come true, so for them this was the ultimate indulgence). Luckily Emma wasn’t too scarred from the splinter incident and came back a few more times to play with the boys while Will and I snuck up another few of the highest peaks in the area (Mt. Roy and Mt. Isthmus) and took some time to wander town to find itty-bitty stocking stuffers and scheme up how to manifest Santa Claus magic, despite all.
One wonderful constant in each place we visit is that the people we meet along the way, the lives we intersect and brief friendships we forge continue to be the most magic and memorable of all. Emma, our babysitter, was no exception. The boys only spent 3 days with her, but it was long enough for them to fall in love. Her last day with them she asked if they’d like to come out to her parent’s farm where she had grown to romp around. The farm was near lake Hawewa, a neighboring lake to Wanaka that is somehow even MORE beautiful. The relief of the mountains rising from the water is even more sharp and it is virtually empty, leaving nothing but miles of crystal-clear turquoise waters interfacing with giant mountains on all sides. It’s breathtaking. Her parents farm turned out to be kid heaven, with a giant zip line racing through the middle, frisbee golf, a freezing cold pool and best of all, a river filled with eels that you take fish guts down to and feed. As far as we can tell Emma’s dad absconded the boys as soon as they arrived (as a father of 5 girls he couldn’t have been more excited to have some little boy energy running around), loading them into a tractor to drive around and fix irrigation pipes and thaw bag after bag of fish guts for the eels. By the time we came to fetch them 5 hours later, they had named the eels, were veritable pros at frisbee golf, had solidified their desire to build a giant flying fox in Crested Butte and were ready to move in with Emma and her parents if we’d let them. Luckily we had the promise of Christmas to lure them away or they might be there still!
For Christmas Eve we rented a little boat to zip around and explore the reaches of lake Wanaka, visiting islands and remote shores to hunt for perfect sticks and skip rocks, pausing to turn off the engine and sit in complete silence and listen to the birds. The boys took turns driving the boat so they could “practice”, just in case Will and I should fall off together and they need to come rescue us 🤣 🚤 . We spent the evening rolling sushi and spring rolls, baking cookies and listening to Christmas carols before each boy read ‘The Night before Christmas’ and tucked in for the night. Will and I settled on stockings filled with Haribo gummies and lottery tickets (the boys BOTH won!) and a treasure hunt set up by the elves that led the boys up, down, and all around the house and yard. It turned out to be so much fun I think we might have to continue it for years to come. It was wonderful to see how excited the boys were even without piles of presents and toys, and as cliché as it sounds, it was the epitome of Christmas magic. After a breakfast of Mahu Whenua blueberry pancakes (boys had begged the recipe before we left) we headed off to hike the Rob Roy glacier, figuring we could at least see, and maybe even touch some snow, the second best thing to a proper white Christmas. It was a gorgeous hike that took us up up along a roaring glacial river that finally ended in a beautiful clearing looking up at the Rob Roy Glacier, a hanging glacier in the Mount Aspiring National Park. While we didn’t get to touch the glacier itself, much to the boys’ dismay, we instead picnicked in the sun, feasting on cheeses and salami, baguettes and Christmas cookies while listening to waterfalls and the creaks and groans of the glacier high above, keeping our eyes peeled for calving. That night we made pizza from scratch (sushi and pizza were the boys 2 requests) and feel asleep early, utterly content with our sweet, tiny Christmas for four. Two days later it was time to once again pack our bags and bid farewell to Wanaka, a departure that was sadder than any we have had on our trip thus far. We could easily have settled into our little rental house and stayed put for the next 3 months, or 10 years, spending our days exploring the trails and seemingly never-ending nature, but we had a boat to catch and some fjords to explore, so onward we went, promising ourselves we would be back before long.
RANDOM RECS
We found our house though a company called Release Wanaka and loved them! They had a great collection of houses and were wonderful to work with.
Rent paddle boards and kayaks down by the lake edge
Patagonia Chocolates for ice cream, coffee and chocolate treats
Wee Tart for milkshakes, baked treats, flat whites, aperol spritzes and delicious sandwiches.
Fresh Link Green Grocer and Mediterranean Market for specialty food items.
Favorite Hikes: Mt. Roy, Rob Roy Glacier, and Mt. Isthmus (our absolute fav!)
Visit Lake Hawea, a sister lake to Wanaka that may actually be even more beautiful. We stopped and skinny dipped after our Mt. Isthmus run and it was heaven.
Bike Glendhu for a day of mountain bike play. You can rent bikes out there and enjoy beer and lunch after your ride at their cool cafe!
Cinema Paradisio—an absolute MUST in Wanaka…it’s this cool old funky theater with couches and old cars to sit and watch from. They stop half way through for intermission and serve up freshly baked cookies and beer and wine. It’s brilliant.