our destination for the evening was the town of Wanaka, at the base of the lake of the same name. we had actually planned to do a hike to Mount Irons when we got there. but with all the walking we had done earlier and the fact that the hike was up a mountain and that it was hot and the hike exposed, we decided to skip it.

instead we went into down town Wanaka to get supplies. i also wanted to stop at a camera shop. i had brought two batteries, but not the charger. back when we were in Christchurch, i bought another battery, and it was still going strong. but i wasn't sure it would make it the rest of the trip. the camera store charged two of my batteries for NZ$10.

while we waited for them to charge, we went to the lake front. we should have changed finn into his swim trunks, as it was pretty warm. instead we walked along the beach and eventually came to a play ground.

they had a brontosaurus slide:


fun for all ages!


and a teeter totter. finn actually kept his hat on for a change:


after the play ground, we got ice cream cones, actually we got waffle cones. we had bought ice cream cones on our day trip to Akoroa. finn was excited about ice cream cones, but waffle cones looked too different! he was brought to tears and refused to try it for some time. somehow we got him to take a taste and everything turned out okay.

we picked up the camera batteries and headed to a campground. it was on an arm of the lake, so we went down to the water to check it out.

finn had a great time tossing stones and poking a stick into the mud:





he would have been happy doing this for hours:


his shorts and diaper did wind up getting wet. and it wasn't a short walk carrying a wet baby back to the camper: