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Published: November 20th 2022
Leaving Queenstown
Looking back over Queenstown as we climb into the mountainsMountains, lakes, waterfalls, sun, heavy rain, beaches, the sea and suicidal giant bumble bee’s – today had it all!
We had an early start today, setting off from Queenstown just after 8am with a quick pit stop at the local McDonalds for a sausage and bacon muffin which was much cheaper (and probably nicer) than the hotel breakfast option! Other than the very nice bellboy/car fetcher who delivered our cases to the room and parked and retrieved our car, we were quite disappointed with the Crowne Plaza hotel overall, it cost an absolute fortune and was very dated, we also had an interconnecting room with a family with a small (very loud) child, so we didn’t get a great nights sleep either!
Our travel plans today meant we had a very long drive ahead of us, 218 miles, bearing in mind this was all on small roads with a top speed of 60mph (on the straight bits!), no motorways, just winding roads with many switchbacks and single lane bridges over the rivers. Google maps estimated it would take around 7 hours with no stops.
Obviously, we did stop quite a few times on the way so it was
Lake Wanaka
The amazing reflections on Lake Wanaka more like nine hours. We went from 11 degrees and pouring rain to 20+ degrees and sunshine, back to rain, then back to sunshine. Up to the heady heights of Franz Josef, then down to sea level and the beaches of Haast and Hokitika. The journey included a lot of scaling mountains, going down the other side, only to go back up the next one!
We came across a lot of waterfalls on our journey too, Fantail Falls was a highlight, we could walk right up to it and the crystal clear water in the Haast river it fed into. Unfortunately it was also raining quite hard at this point, so we’d had to don our raincoats for this bit!
We managed to see a glacier today too, the Franz Josef glacier was a 30mins return walk from the parking area, this was one I’d seen on my previous trip over here just over 10 years ago, and it was incredible to see how much it had changed since then. Last time I was here, it reached the river bed which is where we’d viewed it from. This time the walk led you to a viewing area at
Cardona Hotel
Quick stop off in Cardona, good to see heritage preserved. Missed a chance to take a photo of Bradona, A fence covered in peoples bras the side of the river as due to the way the river path and currents had changed and was now too dangerous to allow people to enter the river bed. The glacier has shrunk back considerably and is now way back up the mountain. Still a very impressive sight, even though you couldn’t get as near to it as I did before.
From here it was only a couple more hours to Greymouth and the weather had improved massively, so we put out sunglasses on and opened the windows to enjoy the cool breeze. It’s a lovely way to travel, makes you feel more connected with the surroundings – but there are some disadvantages, namely bugs! A large black ‘thing’ slammed into the edge of the windscreen, then bounced off onto the door pillar behind Roy exploding and sending sticky bug guts over his arm. Not knowing where it had gone, there was instant panic (from me) that it was now loose in the car, but after a few moments it became obvious that even if it was in the car, it was unlikely to have survived the two car strikes!
At least it was on Roy’s side
Fantail Falls
The loveley Fantail Falls, got caught out in the rain here. though eh….. we didn’t think too much more of it until we arrived at out motel and found a MASSIVE bumble bee squished between the drivers seat and Roy’s back! It had obviously been very busy collecting pollen as that was now smeared all over the drivers seat, Roy’s t-shirt and the door where it had met its demise.
We even stopped off at Hokitika beach after the bee incident but failed to notice the remains of the bee on the seat, or the pollen marks everywhere! We only noticed it once we got to our motel for tonight’s stay.
We arrived in Greymouth around 5:30pm and checked into the Scenicland motel, this is a lovely place, the lady greeting us was really friendly and the room is amazing. We have a full kitchen, a lounge, huge bedroom and bathroom. Even with the kitchen facilities we decided to treat ourselves to dinner out tonight given last night’s buffet disappointment. We went to Buccleugh’s restaurant at the nearby Recreation Hotel which was recommended by the lady at the motel front desk.
Now this is what we call a meal out! We just about scraped in as they were
The Gates of Haast
Just came across 'The Gates of Haast' as we crossed another of the single lane bridges very busy, people arriving after us were turned away. I had Thai spiced prawns with cauliflower rice and poppadom’s, Roy fancied the blue cod (posh fish and chips). Mine was ordered problem free, Roy asked for his and it went along the lines of the following;
Waitress: “Do you want it beddered?”
Roy: ”…… I’m sorry what was that”
Waitress: “Beddered?”
Roy:
Sue: “Battered Roy – do you want it battered! “
Roy: “Oh battered……. Yes please”
I have to confess, I only caught on to what she was asking the 2nd time she said it. They talk funny over here!
The meals were delicious, and we finished it off with an Affogato accompanied by a liquer, the perfect end to a very long, but very enjoyable day.
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