Adventures down under!

Well we made it in one piece to the other end of the world. A mammoth twenty seven hour journey and we were very tired when we arrived but true to form we bounced back after a good nights sleep. It gets light early here in Queenstown and what a pleasure it is to wake up to a view of Lake Wakapitu with a backdrop of the Remarkables Mountain Range. This first week we have managed to get out and about in a leisurely way in contrast to when we have been here in the past and toured around with two nights there, three nights there and a whole lot of packing and unpacking to do. This trip we are in Queenstown for nearly four weeks with just day trips and a little cruise to look forward to.

We have visited the local vineyards in the Gibbston Valley and sampled some of the finest. We enjoyed a lovely charcuterie board at https://kinross.nz/. Kinross Estate and a very fine rose. It’s a popular stop on the wine route and though not new to us, we were surrounded by folk on wine tours. We watch an Asian group arrive, mostly female with two young men. The women were all dressed in various shades of cream and beige - it must be a huge trend currently in the east as its been a recurring theme here. I had no idea there were so many shades of vanilla - the lovely oriental ladies wear it so well - layers and layers of it. This group fluttered in phone cameras clicking away. The glasses had to be arranged and styled, the menus places just so, the table setting, the surrounding area videoed. Then the poses - with hands in lap, looking over the shoulder, looking up, looking down, fingernails photographed around the glass, heads together, heads apart, hats on, hats off, the handbag next to the wine bottle, the wine label ……and all before a drop of wine touched those nude painted Cupid lips! It takes wine tasting to a whole new level and people watching. Our waiter was a lovely chap called Rommel - the smiliest, sunniest, speediest Philippine and a true hospitality professional but even his patience was tested as none of the group were available to order anything until the photos had been taken and taken and taken! So very entertaining!

We carried on up the valley following the river and breathtaking scenery and enjoyed a breather at the site of an old gold panning community, enjoying the shade, a cold drink and a small pretty garden with the owners dog for company. Just as we were readying to leave, the dogs ears pricked up and a stream of cream came fluttering over the bridge, cameras clicking, selfie sticks expanded…..

The next day we could not wait to head off to Glenorchy - a favourite place of ours and even more so when the wild lupins are  in flower. There is no doubt they are a beautiful sight - fields of pink,blue and purple grow near the river banks and yellow ones in profusion along the roadside and lakeshore but they are an invasive weed and there is much debate about whether they should be admired, tolerated or eradicated. They are a feast to look at and photograph and we wandered through them enjoying their bluebell type scent. We stopped for refreshments at the local hotel and got chatting to a local treasure - his name was Trevor but he told us he’s known as ‘Treasure’ and he had been living in Glenorchy most of his life. His Scottish ancestors arrived in NZ by boat and camped on the shore until they were allocated land to settle on and farm. He was great to chat to and we said we hoped to see him again - he joked he may soon be buried treasure as he was getting on! 

Yesterday we drove over the Crown Range to Wannaka and admired the panorama from the top in 3C.

 Our descent took us past the old Cadrona Hotel built in 1865 - ancient by NZ standards, where we stopped to whet our whistle and then on to Lake Wanaka for a browse around, lunch and a walk around Gendhu Bay where it was considerably warmer. We enjoyed a lovely peaceful sit in the sunshine before driving back through Cromwell enjoying the scenery. 

I have been cooking most evenings or if we’d had lunch out we just enjoy a snack but we did enjoy a lovely evening at The Botswana’s Butchery in Queenstown with excellent food! The quality of food is very good here.

Today we gave the TSS Ernslaw a miss and bobbed about on Lake Wakapitu in a smaller boat towards Franklin passing luxury homes and hotels built into the steep slopes. We bought out ticket online and sat on another vessel which was going nowhere - essentially a floating bar - before we saw everyone getting on the boat next to us! It’s was a fun afternoon chatting with locals and visitors on the lake. Our table mates were Jack and Sheila who had escaped their retirement home in Auckland, bought air tickets for $35 and were having a wild weekend in Queenstown. She was born in the Uk and been a young WW2 evacuee whose family had never reclaimed her and had ended up marrying an Australian and making a life here. Lovely couple who had lived a life and were still jetting off on adventures in their 80s. I love meeting strangers on boats and listening to their stories!

Long may they continue to do escape the old age age home ……..And so may we!