My happy place – Wanaka, New Zealand

Wanaka, my second home!

I was lucky enough to spend the majority of my 2 years in New Zealand living in the amazingly beautiful and exciting town called Wanaka. Wanaka is a ski town and thrives throughout both the winter and summer periods with a combination of skiers and snow boarders chasing the snow, tourists and holidaymakers plus the lucky locals.

The town is highly elevated and is surrounded by large, breathtaking and usually snow capped mountains. Nestled beneath these monolithic peaks lies the stunning Lake Wanaka, which the town wraps itself around.

The exciting and invigorating energy of Wanaka is intoxicating. Each day as I walked into the town, admiring the glistening sunlight reflecting on the smooth calm lake beneath the rugged giants I couldn’t help feel immense joy and gratitude.

Each person who lives in Wanaka shares this feeling and everyone makes it known how wonderful it is to live in such a perfect paradise. When I asked a local how their day was, a response I became quite accustomed to went something like “How can you not have a great day when you live in a place like this?”.

The afternoons in Wanaka are best spent by a local bar, drinking beer while watching the sun set slowly behind the mountains and enjoying conversations with the slightly exhausted yet cheery skiers who have just descended from the mountain. Grinning from ear to ear with goggle tans and baggy ski pants, you can’t miss a skier who has had another epic day above the clouds.

I still pine for frosty mornings, the crisp fresh air and the glowing snow capped mountaintops contrasting against the blue bird sky. The joyful nights fueled with beer and tequila. Mixed accents mingling with the sounds of music while new friends dance and boogie late into the night. I miss the hiking adventures up mountaintops, the winding road trips through quiet farmlands dotted with sheep and the laughter with travelers enjoying a tasty bbq on a summers day.

Wanaka will always be my second home and although I miss it, I know I will always go back to the town that first captured my heart.