Queenstown
We arrived in
Queenstown Friday, December 21st 2012 after a magnificent drive
through The Crown Pass. We checked
into “The Queenstown Mews” a very nice two-bed timeshare just a short stroll
from both the lake and the town.
We did some shopping, barbequed some sausages and got ready for our
friends coming the next day.
We picked Peter
and Stephanie up from the airport around 1:30 pm and went back to the condo,
had some tea, got settled in and reunited after 33 years since last seeing each
other. After much catching up we
had dinner in the condo and planned what to do the next day.
After a
leisurely breakfast we took ourselves off to Arrowtown, a quaint little place
nearby where we had tea/coffee and scones. After wandering round the shops we made our way towards the
local wineries for a tour or two.
On the way we were sidestepped to go and witness the Bungy-Jumping at
the site of the worlds first-ever Bungy Jump in 1988 from the Wamarau Bridge
over the Wamarau River. It is not
for the faint of heart but an absolutely,
beautiful location. It is
considered one the most exhilarating things to do in Queenstown which is known
locally as the adventure capital of the world. We decided not to partake!!!!!! From here we found our way, first to the Gibbston Valley
Winery & Cheesery, where we had a tour and then a platter for lunch,
followed by a tasting at the Mt. Rosa Winery, also in the Gibbston Valley. Jim was the designated driver. Later that evening we had a barbeque,
lamb and pork with salad and fresh bread and did some more catching up.
On Christmas
Eve, another glorious day we walked down to the lake and did an easy hike for
several hours. We stopped at The
Rees for coffee and mince pies and came back along the lakeside and through the
Queenstown Gardens and Rose Gardens.
Here we encountered a new sport to us “Frisbee Golf”, it looked like a
lot of fun. We also visited with
some folks at the Lawn Bowls Club and were invited to play by the President,
but due to time constraints we had to decline!!!!! That was our excuse and we are sticking to it. We came back through town and picked up
some bread at the bakery. See the
photo of the exquisite Gingerbread House.
That evening we had dinner at the restaurant at the top of the Gondola,
which incidentally we could see from the condo. We had a magnificent view and a really nice meal. It was nice to be able to walk there
and back after to help the digestion.
Christmas
morning, Peter and Stephanie gave us a lovely Christmas tree ornament with all
things Oz painted on it. Kangaroo,
Koala, The Sydney Opera House including Jim’s famous substation (just kidding)
and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We
had a lovely beakfast and then went on out. We headed to the Shotover River where we could partake in
the World Famous Shotover Jetboat ride.
UNFORTUNATELY, it was closed but as you can see they opened it up just
for us!!!! After this hair-raising
experience we drove up to Coronet Peak and took in the vistas from the ski hill
area and then took Peter and Stephanie on the magical drive through Crown Pass,
culminating in the picturesque valley of the Pisa Conservation Area. The valley and riverbed were alive with
colour and we also saw a pair of oyster-catchers. These comical looking birds beaks are bright orange and look
as though they have a large, pointy carrot stuck on their faces.
Christmas
evening we left early for dinner as Peter and Stephanie treated us to Christmas
Dinner at Walter Peak High Country Farm.
We started by embarking on the T.S. Earnslaw steamship, celebrating its
100th year in operation.
We travelled down the lake on this intriguing vessel to the farm, had a
wonderful Christmas Dinner, saw a sheep shearing exhibition, what everyone
should do on Christmas day and then ROLLED back on to the Earnslaw, which I
might add seemed a lot lower in the water on the return journey. We then had a very welcome walk back to
the condo.
On Boxing Day,
it was up before the crack of dawn to catch the bus to Milford Sound via Te
Anua and on to our boat. We
elected for a small vessel to get closer to the action. That being said we got soaked by the
falls. All in a good days
work. We had a great bus driver
Aleck, a Maori, who imparted all of the Maori Legends on our outward
journey. We were just worried that
there would be a test on the way back but we managed to dodge it. Boy do they have some long names and
only 17 letters in their alphabet????
The 27th
of December was our last full day together so we decided to drive along the
other side of Lake Wakatipu to Glenorchy.
This town was only accessible by boat until the 1960’s when the road was
constructed. It was a very
interesting little town where they operate the jet boats for the Dart
River. It also has the shortest
track of rail for the New Zealand Railway in the country as it came just from
the lake to the station. See
Photo. On our return journey we
decided to stop for tea at The Paradise Gardens and Tearoom. It was a private operation and seemed
quite expensive but we decided to give it a whirl anyway. What a wonderful experience. The owners have worked on this property
for twenty years. They also
operate it as a B&B. There are
five acres in various gardens and they have all been done by the couple that
own it. The property has beautiful
vistas of Lake Wakatipu and the mountains beyond. There are creeks running to and from the various ponds,
fountains, the sculptures are all concrete and the hair strands made from
gravel. The statues portray
various yoga positions. There are
enormous trees, veggies planted in various spots, hundreds of different plants,
trees and shrubs and three thousand roses. There are loads of wild birds, fish, ducks, Canada Geese,
chickens, turkeys, peacocks, frogs and more. One pair of ducks live at the top of the hill and walk all
the way to the bottom to the pond, have a drink and walk all the way back
up. Everything is eco-friendly and
the outside toilet is an amazing piece of engineering with plants growing
inside the cubicle. The ducks and
geese forage between the plants and essentially do the weeding. I must remember that one.
We returned
back to Queenstown and went for a walk down to the beach at the lake. Stephanie went shopping and Peter, Jim
and Barbara went to Underwater World to view the clear waters of the lake and
the creatures that live there.
There are large brown and rainbow trout, salmon and large eels. You can also watch the black diving
teals (ducks) dive down for the fish food that drops from above when a patron
inserts a one-dollar coin. The
fish are mostly oblivious, as they have already eaten so much except for one
very large and very ugly salmon who just floats there, opening his mouth as the
pellets drop in. These creatures
are not in captivity but live freely in the lake, but heh if there is a free
meal why not hang around. The
largest trout ever caught in Lake Wakatipu was caught at the other end of the
lake near Glenorchy and weighed almost twenty-two pounds and was caught by a
nine-year old boy. We went back to
the condo after having a final ice cream at Patagonias Chocolate Shop. Exquisite but they don’t do low fat
lettuce ones unfortunately. More
pounds!!!!
The last supper
was a barbecue of ribs, salad, potato bake, and asparagus, preceded by cheese,
pate, sundried tomatoes and crackers and followed by a fruit crisp and more ice
cream!!!!
The next
morning we had to vacate our little nest with our friends and had a final
coffee in the Remarkables Shopping Complex and then sadly our friends were
taken from us by Qantas across the sea not to be seen again for another few
weeks when we can resume our gourmet naughtiness. It was a truly amazing week of things we did and the ability
to pick up where we left off as though the last thirty-three years were just a
blink in time.
P.S. The Remarkables Shopping Complex is not
reflective of the stores or wares but that it is situated below The Remarkables
Mountain Range.
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Jim in Arrowtown - See Steph reflected in window
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Wamarau Bridge - Wamarau River
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| Gibbston Winery & Cheesery - lunch |
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| Mt. Rosa winery - driftwood sheep statue among the lavender |
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| Barbecue at Queenstown Mews |
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| Lake Wakatipu - Queenstown |
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| Quenstown Lawn Bowls Club |
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| Queenstown Gardens |
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| The beach on Lake Wakatipu - Queenstown Gardens |
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| Exquisite Gingerbread House - Queenstown Bakery |
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| Jim, Barbara, Stephanie & Peter - at the top of the Gondola for Christmas Eve dinner |
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| Scary Stuff - Christmas morning |
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| Christmas Dinner at Walter Peak High Country Farm |
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| Stephanie & Peter - Milford Sound |
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| Milford Sound |
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| Seal Rock - Milford Sound |
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| Seal Rock - Milford Sound |
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| Barbara & Jim - Milford Sound |
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| Stirling Falls - Milford Sound |
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| Milford Sound |
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| Milford Sound |
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| Pisa Conservation Area |
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| Pisa Conservation Area |
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| Pisa Conservation Area |
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| Pisa Conservation Area |
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| Glenorchy Station |
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| Lake Wakatipu - Looking Towards Glenorchy |
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| Paradise Gardens |
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| Paradise Gardens |
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| Paradise Gardens |
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| Paradise Gardens |
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| Paradise Gardens |
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| Paradise Gardens |
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| Paradise Gardens |
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| Paradise Gardens |
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| Paradise Gardens |
Stay tuned for
Invercargill…………………
