Apr 14th: Queenstown to Wanaka

Day 11 (day 7 in New Zealand)

Our short journey of just 56 miles today was a spectacular one.

After a quick refuelling stop we set off for the historic mining town of Arrowtown. Along the way we came across Lake Hayes, a tranquil recreation area. A beautiful setting which included 3 black swans.

One nice touch: just as in the UK, they have dog poo bins but with the addition of a large roll of bags to use so no excuses!

We could have stayed longer but had to move on to Arrowtown, a living monument to the short--lived and ultimately futile New Zealand of the 1870s. The sun shone and the one street town was awash with tourists. We had a pleasant stroll around and a late breakfast in one of the cafes before moving on. Despite being very touristy, the large (and full) car-park was free all day.


Continuing on our journey, we had a choice of two routes: a long easy one and a short scary one. I chose the latter which involved multiple hairpin bends and climbing over 2,000 feet in a few miles. Every other bend had a scenic lay-by and we took every opportunity to take a few photos. The one below is near the top, taken by another tourist  if you zoom in you can just see Queenstown airport.

We arrived in Wanaka mid-afternoon and the sun had properly put his hat on for us! Our hotel was right next to the lake so after checking in we had a walk along its southern shore. A busy little town for tourists and locals alike. A Quick Look in an estate agents window (Julie can never pass these by) suggests we won’t be moving here anytime soon. 



Comments

  1. Anonymous22 April 2024 at 03:43

    Some amazing scenery guys x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jayne22 April 2024 at 11:40

    I can't make any comments get bleddy published

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jayne22 April 2024 at 11:40

    I have now! Wonderful scenery

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

May 12th: Crossing into Queensland

Image
Day 39 (Day 14 in Australia) I didn’t sleep well last night. It was a bit hot in our room. I was up at 6:50 and went for an early morning walk. The streets of Gunnedah were deserted, even allowing for it being a Sunday morning (and Mother’s Day here). Not only quiet but pristine clean and SO wide. Parakeet Julie loves these gum(?) trees that seem to have been stripped of their bark and sandpapered to a polish Nice house in Gunnedah We set off on the second of our five leg journey to the outback fairly early but first we detoured to a local park full of gum trees. Gunnedah is sometimes known as the ‘koala capital’ of Australia. We spent 15/20 minutes looking for them  without luck. They don’t move much and are, apparently, hard to spot. We did, however, have fun watching some argumentative cockatoos squabbling over a perch. The 436km (272 mile) drive to St George was about 5 hrs (without stops). The sky, initially overcast and providing some spots of rain, gradually cleared and beca...
Read more

May 25th: Fun, Food and ‘Footie’

Image
Day 52 (Day 27 in Australia) A rare treat this morning - a proper breakfast in the hotel. Old fashioned too as a waitress took our order and it was cooked just for us rather than buffet style. It was good! The video below is the view from our room. I would have filmed it last night for the sunset but I couldn’t fine out how to unlock the door. Turns out it wasn’t locked! Milawa is a very sleepy little place but in a famous gourmet region. As well as wineries, there is a bakery, cheesery, olivery and a mustardry. (I may have just made up some of those terms but the establishments exist).  Milawa Mustard Shop Mr Milawa Main Mustard Maker is from Harrogate Our journey back to Phil & Carolyn’s in Melbourne was only 3 hours so we had plenty of time to enjoy it and arrive mid afternoon in time for this evening’s entertainment. First stop was for coffee at a random town just off the highway. Violet Town was picked because we liked the name. Charming little place that is clearly strugg...
Read more

May 14th: Glamping It Up!

Image
Day 41 (Day 16 in Australia) Our stop for tonight and tomorrow is 3km outside the town of Longreach, which is less than 2 hrs drive from our ultimate Outback destination of Winton. We’re at Mitchell Grass Retreat for a spot of ‘glamping’ with a definite emphasis on ‘glam’. Our ‘tent’ The view from the deck As the owner showed us around our ‘tent’ with its large double bed, separate bathroom with bath and  large shower, kitchen area with fridge/freezer (including a large bar of KitKat - dark chocolate Tasmanian mint flavour - you don’t get that back home!), deck with gas barbecue etc, she pointed to a decanter half full of port and said, “if you run out just let us know and we’ll restock it for you”!! She also said, “I’ve just cleaned your toilet again as there was a green frog in it. He likes it here so he might come back”!!! We like frogs so I’m hoping it is a green tree frog and does pay us a visit. Well done to Carolyn for booking this place! Mind you, the first thing I saw aft...
Read more