Queenstown

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We got to Queenstown on the 25th July. It wasnt a long drive from Wanaka where we stayed the night before. The original plan was to stay in Wanaka for a few days and do a bit of skiing. I found out that the ski fields were closer to Queenstown. The campsite in Wanaka was a bit of a dive so we drove on the next day. I liked Queenstown. It is a small compact towm with a great atmosphere. (Made a change to be busy) The campsite was better so booked in for 5 nights. The town is situated on the edge of a large lake under the shadows of several great mountains, two being the Remarkables and Coronet Peak.

Debbie and I went on a coach and boat trip to Milford Sounds. In fact it should be called Milford Fiord. The area was created by a glacier carving away the soft rock and leaving the exposed hard rock. A sound is pretty much the same thing but is created by the movement of water as opposed to ice. The scenery was really nice and the weather was bright and sunny. I think i am starting to take the scenery for granted. I appreciated the views but in the back of my mind thinking its just another lake thing with big cliffs. (Bad i know). We did see a pod of dolphins which was cool. It was a good day out although the drive there and back did take 10 hours! We spent a couple of days wandering round the town and one day skiing.

We were scheduled to ski Coronet Peak but the rain had turned the snow to mush. Instead Debbie and i caught the shuttle to the Remarkables. Called so because they are aligned due North and due South. The surveyor thought this quite remarkable and the name stuck. Debbie had a beginner lesson while i had a progressive one. Not meaning to sound big headed but what a waste of time! The groups were huge and i didnt learn anything i didnt already know. Debbie had a good time though and only fell over a handful of times. The best part of the day was at the end of the lesson when me and two others went up the chair lift and did some proper skiing. I just wish i had plucked up the courage and left the group earlier. Never mind i hope to go skiing next year anyway.

We left Queenstown and headed North towards Mt Cook. The journey didnt take long and the roads were good. We stopped in Twizle for a bite to eat and made it to the caravan park about 2:30pm. It was about 15 minutes to Mt Cook and considering the day was half way through, decided to go the next day. The site was down a long track and was pretty deserted. The toilets looked like a stable block. Thankfully we only stayed there for one night. The next day was pretty overcast. We drove towards the mountian and it started to drizzle, great! We got out at the visitors centre noting the risk of an avalanch was high. (According to the chart) We couldnt even tell which mountain was Mt Cook because of all the fog. We stayed in the van for a while hoping the fog would clear, it didnt so we drove North again towards Fairlie.

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Comments

[Debbie The Explorer]

nice
Nice photo Katherine! Nice and close of yourself and you added it twice you must have really loved that photo of yourself hehehehe!