Day 16

Wanaka, drive to Fox Glacier. We were up early for breakfast with the Wilsons after a relatively good night with Zack. It proved to be a glorious day, with clear skies and sunshine. Keith and Zack went down to the edge of the lake to throw stones and play on the dinosaur slide again, while I popped into town for some last minute shopping. We left Wanaka before noon and headed for Lake Hawea which was just lovely - another part of NZ that is untouched and breathtakingly beautiful. We passed through a neck and then were back on the northernmost end of Lake Wanaka, a glorious acqua coloured expanse of water reflecting the mountains and snow-topped Mt Alba in the distance. We then began our trip towards the coast with our first stop being lunch in Makaroa, where they were driving sheep. Their bleating was so loud and sustained that we parked the car at the cafe and then went to show Zack the gazillion sheep, and the source of the noise. After lunch (more great NZ pies) we drove into the coastal bush that covers most of this part of the West Coast. We stopped along the way to see a seal colony on a crescent of white beach far, far below, and then had to push hard to get through Haast, and on to Fox Glacier by 7pm. It was an awful lot of driving for one day!
After checking in, we quickly had some dinner in town, before bed.
We must be insane, but we've decided to strike while the iron's hot and end Zack's dummy dependency, with immediate effect. We'd had an insane time with him on the drive from Haast through to Fox while he screamed "dummy, dummy, dummy" for about an hour or more. It was enough to make me scream, but I think it steeled our resolution. This must end ! After dinner Keith took Zack for his bath and then settled him on the floor in our room. He came back sometime later to discover Zack playing with his toys and everything else he'd been able to get his hands on at floor level. So Keith had, had to lie with him until he fell asleep. Hmm.... not quite what we'd had in mind.