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Published: December 4th 2016
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Well I'm a bit of a pro at this at the moment hence the delay in the latest blog, however it’s not yesterday I have trouble keeping up with it’s the last couple of weeks! Oh why, oh why did I leave it so long.
Well we left Te Anau late on Wednesday 23/11. The weather has been terrible and again today it’s cold and raining so we head off to the NZMCA Lumsden park for the night. The Around the Mountain Bike trails pass through this little village. So plenty of lycra clad people around having an expresso or just sheltering from the weather.
Thursday 24/11 and our first stop for the day is Garston. A stop at the Honey shop here is worth the stop especially if you are a honey lover. Today the beekeeper was in store today so Lance got to satisfy his inquisitive brain with a few questions and I got to take away a kilo of Thyme Honey ….yum. Further up the road and we reach Kingston which sits on the southern edge of Lake Wakatipu. The weather held off long enough to take a couple of photos. I managed to get a
photo of the very shy Crested Grebe swimming along, no baby chick on its back today. The road from here winds its way north and next to the beautiful Lake Wakatipu to Queenstown. Wow Queenstown has grown so much since our visit here over ten years ago. Not really a place to be driving a large Motorhome around. We head straight to Queenstown Holiday Park Creeksyde, an expensive campground but very central and walking distance to town and lakefront which makes it worth every cent. We spent our days wandering around town and the waterfront. This place is humming with tourists and you could quite easily think you were in a different country. Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of NZ, with jetboating, bungy jumping, zip lining, 4wd, skiing, parasailing………..and there were hordes of tourists handing out wads of cash for a bit of the excitement. On Friday we did do the Nomad 4wd Skippers Canyon tour. It was on my bucket list so Lance reluctantly opened his wallet ($180 each) for the tour. Fan bloody tastic it was. The Skippers Canon Road is ranked the 10
th dangerous road in the world so not for the faint hearted. You
will know why when you get out there. We travelled in a trusty Toyota Landcruiser with our guide Jenny. There were 2 other couples on the trip, 3 of them quite petrified by the whole experience, which was a bit of bonus as Lance and I ended up with window seats all the way😊. Jenny regaled a few stories of her previous customers experiences, like the Brazilian man who screamed for her to stop, Jenny thought he might have going to be sick but then jumped out of the vehicle to only cling to the bank and refuse to get back in. Lucky he had a rather strong wife who got out and gave him a good talking to and dragged him shamefully back into the vehicle. The views were spectacular over the Shotover Valley as we headed out on the narrow cliff edge road to the old township of Skippers. We stopped at various spots including the historical Skippers Bridge. We would normally go gold panning on this tour but the wind today was blowing 50 b’s so not today, we had enough trouble standing upright when we did manage to stop for a photo shot. As we didn’t
get to do the gold panning we had a bit of spare time so Jenny our guide treated us to a bit of 4WD up the Arrow River towards Macetown. OMG what a ride, the river was a bit high today but we made it back safely much to the relief of some of our fellow passengers😊. Another great day with an awesome guide and some new friends.
It’s Saturday and every man and his dog is out and about including a fairly large portion of lycra clad persons braving the weather. We decide to head out to Glenorchy with a bit of a detour to take a look at Lake Moke. There is a DOC camp out here and it had been recommended to us by a few people. Lovely spot surrounded by some high ranges and farmland. If you have a couple of hours you can walk around this small lake to Lake Dispute. There is a popular mountain bike track out here which loops back around to Queenstown. This would be a great place to stay so it’s on our list for our next visit. Back out on the picturesque Glenorchy Road and guess what it’s
started to rain! By the time we actually got to Gelnorchy it was pelting down. So a quick waterfront photo shot whilst Lance stays warm and dry in the motorhome. It’s actually quite pretty out here even though it’s raining. I have decided we could have spent a much longer time around the Queenstown region. Lots and lots of walks to do that we just didn’t get time to do or the weather was just not on our side. Oh well I will have to put it back on the bucket list. It’s funny how the bucket list never really shrinks😊. Heading out of Queenstown we pass Lake Hayes then stop for a walk over the Historic Lower Shotover River Bridge then onto the famous AJ Hackett Kawerau Bridge Bungy. Nope wouldn’t get me doing that! We spent a fair bit of the time just watching the shear look on everybody’s faces before they plunged off. A young Asian guy asked me to video his wife take the plunge I really though she wasn’t going to jump but somehow the guide edged her feet off! My favourite was the old bald guy trying to protect his head before his head
was dipped into the freezing water. Last stop is Cromwell, if you are not sure if you are in the right place look out for the giant apple, pear, peach, nectarine sculpture as you are in town. Today I'm surprised the fruit hasn’t blown away you can barely stand up. Cromwell is the home of Highlands Motorsport Park. Lance managed to drag me around the motorsport collection today. I did get a nice booklet included in the entry fee (a gift for the brother-nlaw perhaps?). Can’t be bothered cooking so it’s a takeaway curry from the local Indian Garden. Very nice curry so can personally recommend this place. Parked up now at Rotray Glen NZMCA park next to Lake Dunstan for the night. Lucky this is a very sheltered spot to escape the wind.
Sunday and we follow Lake Dunstan north up and over the barron Lindis Pass then alongside the Ahuriri River. What magic views today with the river, lupins and snow-capped mountains completing a stunning view. This was a great place for lunch and a bit of a play with the camera. Next was the big decision at Omarama……….. do we turn left and head north towards
Twizel or right east towards Lake Benmore. The weather forecast said it was -3 deg at Mt Cook so we head east instead. Taking the tourist route around the back of Lake Benmore and dam (biggest earth dam in NZ), down to Lake Aviemore and the Aviemore dam. It’s a very picturesque drive right along this stretch of road. There is a camp called Fishermans Bend which sits below the Aviemore Dam on the Waitaki River so we opt to park up there tonight. The caretaker thanked us for parking up high as the Lakes are pretty full and the story is if they have to let some water out of the dam the low lying camp areas flood pretty fast. (Just as well Lance listened to me then, he wanted to park on the water edge). From our campsite we could watch the water spilling over the dam with the high winds and very full Lake Aviemore behind.
Monday (28/11) we head off through Kurow (Richie McCaw country apparently😊) then across the Waitaki river to Waimate, and back onto the East Coast. A night in Timaru, a night at Ealing Park NZMCA and we are now back in
Christchurch dealing with domesticated stuff like COF, Dr appts and the sale of our Family home back in Rotorua. We will be here till we fly back north on the 7
th December (Can’t wait to cuddle that beautiful grandson of mine😊). The plan is to be back down South after the New Year where we will head down to Twizel and then up the West Coast. Signing off for now, have a wonderful safe Christmas. Cheers Cheryl & Lance.
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