A Short Drive from Makarora to Queenstown over New Zealand's Highest Paved Road

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We had had exactly 12 hours in bed when we awoke this morning. That is what can happen when there is no cell phone coverage, no internet and no television in your overnight accommodation.

It wasn’t that we slept for 12 hours as we did have our kindles to read which passed away some of the time last night after our dinner in the adjacent restaurant, And Gretchen did get to check the emails at the reception in the lounge bar.

So heading onto Queenstown today and what promised to be an upmarket apartment will be like coming back to civilisation after a one night stay in a remote location.

It was only a short drive in comparison to others so far into Queenstown so getting on the road before checkout time of 10am wasn’t a priority.

The weather overhead was partly cloudy and the air temperature on the cool but not cold side.

Driving south along the eastern side of Lake Wanaka gave wonderful expansive views of the majestic mountains on the other side of the lake while the views out to our left of us were limited to the steeply rising landscape.

Like yesterday we encountered more of the cable laying road works which looks to be quite a big effort for a very tiny population between Hawea and Haast.

We drove onto a point where the road effectively crosses over and then runs alongside the adjoining Lake Hawea which makes one speculate whether the two lakes were ever just one lake sometime in the distant past. There is a small amount of change in the height of the road as you cross what is known as ‘The Neck’.

Now the expansive view of the mountains were to the east of us and just as equally dramatic and majestic as the drive over the past half hour or so down Lake Wanaka had been.

It had been interesting pondering just how different the scenic West Coast is to the scenic Central Otago had been yet the distance between the two is not that great with just the towering Southern Alps creating the difference.

The township of Hawea appeared to have grown since we were last down this way as had Wanaka which we recalled as being a quiet shopping area mainly along the edge of the lake. Today however we noticed a large commercial development with multiple shops finished or under construction on the outskirts of the town.

There are two options to get to Queenstown by road from Wanaka.

One is to continue on Highway 6 via Cromwell and the Kawarau Gorge and is by far the longer distance but flat route to drive. While the other option is the much shorter and more direct route over the Crown Range which is the highest sealed road in New Zealand at 1076metres.

We opted for the Crown Range as it is more scenic and although it can be a challenge in winter when the road can be closed by snow, todays clear weather shouldn’t be a problem to us.

As we started out we thought that this would be the third time we had driven the road and on each occasion it has always been in the same direction, i.e towards Queenstown. This results in a very gradual easy drive until a couple of kilometres before the summit where it becomes steeper and then a relatively sharp drop down including a number of zig zags near the bottom to rejoin Highway 6 that was via Cromwell.

The highlight on the way up to the summit is a stop at the Cardrona Hotel built in 1863 during the gold rush era in the region.

The hotel had fallen into disrepair after it closed in 1961 when the 91 year old owner died and the liquor licence was taken away. But during the 1980’s and with new owners the hotel was restored to its former glory and now looks a picture with its original appearance enhanced by the work that has been done.

Time for a coffee and the last cheese scone on the bar counter was in order and time to take in the ambience of the interior which for the most part has been retained except where you can see through to the modern stainless steel kitchen.

Despite there being no wind down at the lake level we had left less than an hour ago there was a cutting breeze at the summit of the road and there was just enough time for photos and admiring the altitude and the view far down to the valley before it was back in the car and a test of the brakes as we started the sharp descent.

We were last in Queenstown 3 years ago and growth has continued at a fair pace in that time with 3 separate shopping areas outside of what is the compact downtown area at the side of Lake Wakatipu.

Our apartment at Villa del Largo was in a great setting below the main road into town but high enough up to have a great view towards Kelvin Heights on the other side of Frankton Arm over the roofs of places in front of the establishment.

We have 4 nights here and it is going to suit us very well.

After settling in and checking the food supplies especially breakfast items we took a short drive to Countdown and topped up the pantry and wine rack. A half chicken (already cooked) plus potato specialties (hate to admit these ones were from Belgium!)and we were ready for dinner in tonight.

Tomorrow might just be a quiet day rediscovering Queenstown which might even include at least one place we have never been to.And the weather is predicted to brighten up again after a partly cloudy day today.

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