Feb 18-20

Feb. 18

Last night, we stayed in studio type cottage behind a woman’s home. Erin was lovely and I’ll keep her info for anyone who might be interested in staying in Lake Tekepo. She had a vegetable garden and fresh herbs she was more than willing to share. I ended up using some fresh mint of hers, and I almost pulled a couple of red beets, but decided not to cook our dinner last night, instead, I made a big salad using left over quinoa for our protein. The weather continued to be rainy and raw. After having our salads, we took a drive around the small town and had taken a left turn at an historic site sign. There was this lovely small stone church built around 1840. There wasn’t enough light to take good photos, so we decided to stop there first thing after leaving Erin’s in the morning.

So, that’s what we did. We stopped at the church and have great photos. It’s right on Lake Tekepo and while looking at the altar, you can see the lake, which is quite large. Every site is so amazing.

Then, off to Aoraki - Mt. Cook, to take the Tasman Glacier tour, or so we thought. It was still nasty out, drizzling and raw, and they had cancelled the 8:30am and 10:00am tours. They were going to take the group to the starting point, about a half hour drive, but they weren’t sure they would continue with the tour. So, we oped out. Instead, we went to the information center, which was the most beautiful set up of its type I’ve ever seen. It was a wonder in and of its own. Photos to follow.

After spending a bit of time there, we drove to the blue lakes for a sight of the Tasman Glacier. We stopped for a picnic lunch at the camping area near the start of the hike to the blue lakes. At this point, it wasn't drizzling, just really overcast and nasty out. 

I thought I would do the 30-40 min walk, but as it was still so raw and once again it was drizzly, I decided not to. I took a rest, closed my eyes, while Art took the hike. So, I got to see photos when Art came back; he told me I had made the right choice, but I still felt like a wuss. However, it WAS good energy management.

Tonight, we’re in Wanaka at X Base, a youth hostel. It’s relatively new, and although the rooms are small, they are very nice, and are en suite (with bathroom). It was hard to find a place to stay here, and I can understand why, as it’s a lovely town with an abundance of outdoor activities. We’re signed up for a boat tour, which includes going to glaciers and walking to waterfalls. I’ve got my fingers crossed that the weather has broken and it will be warmish and sunny, although not too warm.

We had dinner near by our hostel and it was really cold out with a strong wind, although it had been beautiful out when we arrived in Wanaka. We had left the rain a bit further north.

Feb 19

Woke up this morning to an absolutely beautiful day – sunny with no clouds visible. The temperature was just bit cool but promised to get warmer.

We got picked up for our jet boat trip to the glacier around mid morning. There were eight of us on the trip. It was so neat, and although the sun was out, we were going so fast that it was really cool/cold on the water. It was about an hour’s trip up the river to see the glacier (from afar), which had two waterfalls coming form it; we were told that it was 3.5 kilometers across, but it looked much smaller, also that the ice was 150 meters deep. So gorgeous. On the way to the place where we were going to hike across a meadow, we passed a couple of mountains that were used in scenes from all three of Lord of the Rings movies. The meadow we trekked across had cows, which had swum across the river from where they were suppose to live, and we had to watch out for the cow patties, not a difficult thing to do as they are so large. At the far end of the meadow, we found a fabulous water fall we could walk up to. It was a magical trip and the scenery was spectacular.

We had a bite of lunch once back in Wanaka, then took off to head into Queenstown. On the way, we stopped numerous times for photo ops, as usual. We made a stop in Arrowtown, an old gold mining town that has been restored. The original names on the buildings aren’t the shops that are in the buildings now. It was quaint and we were glad we’d stopped. On to Queenstown, where the first place we went was to the gondola up the mountain. What a ride with a view overlooking the lake! It was incredible. We decided not to have the buffet dinner at the restaurant at the top of the mountain, but we walked around and enjoyed the scenery. We ended up having dinner at FINZ, a seafood place on the wharf, really nice. The oysters were about the best I’ve ever had. We both ate the turbot, which was really unusual, as we usually order two different things, so we can share. They were excellent. Then, onto Cromwell to sleep, about a 40 minute drive from Queenstown. It was a long enjoyable day. And the weather was exceptional.

Feb 20

We got up and out relatively early. They also had an old town center, like Arrowtown but not like Arrowtown, made up of restored buildings from the gold rush era of the 1860s, 1870s. It was much smaller and had a small museum in the old newspaper building, showing old printing presses too. A lot was preserved.

When we left Cromwell, we ambled through Clyde, where they had a small group of vendors outside the iSite, or information center; there were some very good craft artists there. We asked about a place to have a picnic lunch and were told that by Shaky Bridge would be a nice place. With a name like that, we couldn’t resist the stop. By this time, it was really hot out, but we were able to find a bit of shade, so we could enjoy lunch. After eating, we walked across the bridge, and it was only a little shaky. It was first built for the gold miners to cross over the river.

Greg, the jeweler we had met in Akoroa, had told us to go through Taieri Mouth on our way to Dunedin. So, we did, and the scenery was wonderful. The South Pacific Ocean runs along the coast of this small town, totally untouched by tourists – there was a real fishing fleet, not for tourists, and we would have loved to have gotten some fresh fish, but all was closed.

Tonight, we’re staying at a backpackers place called Hogwartz, showing lots of influences of Harry Potter. Lovely big kitchen, so I cooked a broccoli, garlic, and fennel sauce for pasta. Yummy.

Good night.