So, a tour along the lake front at Te Anau and then out on Route 94 with a consistent view of mountains as we headed through Mossburn (coffee and carrot cake), on to Route 97 to Five Rivers to pick up Route 6 which lies between the Eyre and Hector mountains. We followed this to Fairlight where we saw the station for the Kingston Flyer which advertised vintage steam train journeys at 11.00 and 2.30pm.... it was about 11.45! The station did look a little derelict but we elected to continue to Kingston and explore things further there.
Kingston sits at the southernmost tip of Lake Wakatipu, the same lake that has Queenstown on it about 40km further north, so we had plenty of time for meandering. We turned off to explore the railway only to find it sadly neglected, though it has clearly been restored at some stage but has now fallen into some state of disrepair and needs a serious amount of TLC. There were signs of recent life but the cafe was closed and the ticket office had a notice stating ‘closed until further notice’.
We meandered further north, the road following the edge of the lake with numerous pull off points. We stopped at one of these for our lunch and sat on the shore of the lake soaking up the view of the crystal clear water and the backdrop of the Eyre Mountains and then continued towards Queenstown with the Hector Mountains being replaced by The Remarkables. As we got to Franklin we diverted via the old gold prospecting town of Arrowtown and spent a few hours wandering around the town, visiting the old Chinese prospectors settlement and finishing up by eating ice cream.... cake and ice cream in one day; I must schedule some exercise!
We then dropped into the back of Queenstown and soon found our campsite before having a wander down to the quay and having a brief walk round to get our bearings, checking out where the TSS Earnslaw departs from (Saturday evening’s plan!) and checking out the range of activity shops, eateries and bars. Queens town is the busiest place we have been to since Christchurch, though there is no ‘bustle’ as such.
Friday: A bright and breezy morning saw us wandering down (via the 76 steps down to the town centre) to the shoreline of Lake Wakatipu and ambling along the promenade heading out of town admiring the rock formations, the Remarkables and the activity on the lake (jet boats, fishing boats, bird life). Our return journey was timed to include coffee on the wharf coupled with a bit of people watching before we wondered to the gondola where we had lunch booked. The upper gondola station gave fantastic views of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu so we spent some time enjoying those and watching people on the Luge before we went to lunch. This was a rather magnificent buffet which extended to five courses if you include coffee; complete with soup, seafood, salads, a range of hot dishes and a wide selection of desserts.
After lunch we completed the Skyline circular walk which helped compensate for some of the calories consumed, and then headed for a ride on the luge, a twisting downhill run on a toboggan type sled on wheels, with a return trip by ski lift for any subsequent runs. Heather braved a single run down but did not overly enjoy it while the guy who only climbs hills on his bike for the descents went round again!
By now it was heading towards 4pm and we had an appointment with Kiwi feeding time at the nearby Kiwi Birdlife Park (which was right next door to the gondola base station) so we headed down and had an enjoyable couple of hours wandering around the rescued wildlife and watching the Kiwis (which are kept in a ‘natural’ environment as possible). The Kiwis are clearly quite happy as they are now breeding successfully.
Saturday started sunny and breezy with acres of blue sky and promises of temperatures in the mid to high twenties. We took a drive out along towards Glenorchy, the “Gateway to Paradise”. The road follows the shore of the lake and is incredibly hilly as the shoreline goes from beaches to cliff face. On the way we had incredible views of the Humboldt Mountains, Pigeon Island and Pig Island. We had coffee in Glenorchy itself before walking the circular walk out to Glenorchy Lagoon via raised walkways across the marshes, and back via the Glenorchy golf course. A good section of this was across marsh land, along streams and by the lagoon itself, this yielding a variety of wildlife including black swans, teal, ducks, mayflies, dragonflies, yellow hammers and a range of other birds.
After the walk we headed back towards Queenstown stopping for lunch at Wilson Bay. Unusually we had to share this bay with other people as there were a range of mountain bike tracks which were popular with cyclists (it was Saturday!) and there were also some families and a group of youngsters sunbathing.
After lunch we headed back to Queenstown and out to the famous Kawaru Bridge bungy jumping site where we enjoyed watching a few jumpers getting wet. Neither of us felt inclined to participate though we were tempted by the “too chicken” T-shirts!
It was then time to head back as this evening sees us on the TSS Earnslaw for dinner at Walter Peak at the Colonel’s Homestead – should be good...
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