South Island 3 - Queenstown

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Queenstown. Rain. Cloud. Cold.

We got here by driving from Franz Josef - again a slight underestimation of how long it would take but made easy by the scenery along the way. Fox Glacier, Bruce Bay Lake Paringa, podocarp forests; Rimu, Kahikatea, Totara, Kahikatea and beech among others. A good road surface, winding at times but with a good surface mostly, the forest leaning out over the road or pressing in on both sides. It's majestic. No other word for it. We have a beautifully, spectacular country.

There was little traffic. We stopped at Haaaaast (forgotten how many 'a's) for lunch at the Hard Antler Pub/cafe. Not recommended. Poor service, not with a a smile and the food seemed old and tired. It's one of the only games in town so there's little choice. Ce'st la vie.

Onward over the Haast Pass, which didn't seem anything like as long as I remembered. A fascinating drive through the ruggedness of the country. Through Makarora to Lake Hawea where we were lucky enough to meet up with Katy Christian an old friend of ours who has lived in the area for many years. A really nice stop with Katy.

Then to Queenstown over the Crown Range. Katy's dad, John, is riding a cycling event in a few weeks which climaxes over the Crown Range. It looked VERY steep and LONG and he's almost as old as me! To the Copthorne (the cheaper one) where they upgraded us and we had a spacious room with a Lake Wakatipu view.

We walked down town. It was cold. Ate at a Vietnamese place and it was good. Walked back. Colder.

Friday 5 March.. Awoke to rain. Lots of it. Couldn't see a thing so we postponed the planned TSS Earnslaw trip. We went downtown again in the late morning in the cold, heavy rain and had lunch at at Vudu Cafe which had been recommended to us by Karen. It was great. Warm, welcoming, nice ambience and good food. Afterwards we wandered around town in the rain (man it looks a woebegone place in the wet), visited some op shops to boost our cold weather gear and called it a day.

But not a night......

We booked at The Bunker restaurant for a dinner. What a great choice. Beautiful food, superb service, excellent wine, intimate and attractive ambience with an open fire. We highly recommend this place for a memorable night out. (Lyn had lamb, I had pork belly). Wow! Staggered back to the hotel. Beached whales.

Saturday 6 March: Both slept fitfully. Wonder why? Awoke to cloudy, wet vista but not raining. Tried to get on the Earnslaw but the 10.00am sailing was cancelled and the later ones didn't fit our plans so we drove to Glenorchy instead along the north shore of the lake. A winding road with a good surface, mountains, some snow capped already, bordering the road, cloud drifting down from the tops. Glenorchy suffering from the lack of international tourists. An interesting place which would normally be buzzing but we were two of only a few and it was sad.

Back to the hotel to pick up our bikes and then on the road to Manapouri - next instalment.

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Photos

Wet Queenstown
From the hotel room

Bob's Cove track
Road to Glenorchy