Queenstown & Te Anua

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After our shakey drive down from the Cadrona ski slopes, we didn't want to drive too far that evening to our next destination. The plan had been to drive on to Queenstown, but after an hour of driving we decided to pull into a town called Franktown to find somewhere (free) to park the van.

We did manage to find a nice little spot next to a massive lake which was tucked away from the town, and there were public toilets not far. It did actually have a sign saying no camping but a local told us that it only really applied to the summer when the towns are teaming with tourists....so we risked it. And the light was fading anyway.... Over the other side of the lake we could see lights as if there was a small town there, and the view as the sun went down was another corker. In the morning the view was even better. And after we had spent 30 minutes boiling water on our little gas stove to make some tea, we had a wash and set off to Queenstown.

It turned out that the lights at the other side of the lake were in fact Queenstown, and the lake we had camped in front of was Lake Wakitupa. It only took us 5 minutes to get to Queenstown and then we parked up and took a stroll around the town. I had expected it to be a lot like Christchurch, but actually it was much prettier and there were some really nice looking restaurants and expensive shops. Queenstown has a really classy feel to it, despite the fact it is where most tourists head to do sky diving or other extreme sports. There was a lovely little market with locally made crafts, and the boat harbour was very scenic. We took a stroll around the gardens which overlook the town and got some lovely shots of the lake with Queenstown in the background. It was a beautiful town, and a shame we were only passing through - but I think the weather also played a massive part in the vistas we were getting. The sun had shone non stop since we had arrived in NZ - and we were being really lucky.

We hopped back into our van (another Jucy Campervan had parked right next to us lol) and hit the road by midday. Off to our next destination - Te Anua.

1 hour later we were in Te Anua, and pitching up at our (paid for) campground for the night. Our pitch had great views over the mountains and valley, and we were able to get hot showers, laundrey and internet all done in the afternoon, and a couple of games of cards.

In the evening we had booked a tour setting off from Te Anua to the Glow Worm caves. The tour left from the harbour at 7pm and we were taken 35 minutes across Lake Te Anua to where the caves are. We were given a short presentation on the life of a glow worm - fascinating little creatures, but quite cruel. They don't think twice about trapping little moths on their sticky and paralising slime (I'm sure there is a better word for it but I wasn't taking notes) and then slowly drawing them into their mouths. Their little bums glow green when they are hungrey, which makes for a fascinating sight when their are several hundred altogether in a cave.

The tour into the cave was brief but we got what we came for. The glow worm grotto was pretty cool, although we weren't able to take any photos as they react badly to the light. We also got to see the rock formation inside the cave and to taste some fresh water.

We were still aching from our skiing the day before so we were glad to get back to our campsite and flake out for the night. In the morning we had a long tour to Milford Sound so a good nights sleep was definitely what was needed.........

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