Monday the 8th, Glenorchy & Kinloch Lodge

Monday was another beautiful, warm, sunny day! We had plans to go to Glenorchy, and to have dinner at Kinloch Lodge. Craig and Stephen had discovered the Lodge in a review in the Air New Zealand magazine, and made reservations for us to go. Kinloch Lodge is located in Kinloch, located at the head of Lake Wakatipu. The Lodge, restaurant, cabins and campground comprised the whole of Kinloch, which was at the end of 9 km's of gravel road!

It was a new experience for us, as when Craig made reservations, they directed us to their online dinner menu, and asked us to call on Monday morning with our order! So, we spent a bit of time deciding what to have (Lee and I - salmon, Craig and Stephen, duck!)

We packed a picnic lunch and our swim wear and left Queenstown on another adventure. We saw tons more amazing scenery, stopped briefly in Glenorchy, and then headed off to Paradise for a picnic lunch. The area around Paradise is where a lot of the Lord of the Rings movies were are filmed. We wanted to get to the picnic area at the end of the road, but we kept having to ford streams! We finally got to a point where we decided that the water was just too deep for our rental car, and turned around.

We found a great meadow for our picnic and had fun taking lots of pictures. After lunch, we left for Kinloch, and a swim! Again, it was quite a long gravel road - lots of bouncing around! There were lots of happy NZ cows, who kept an eye on us as we traveled along.

When we got to Kinloch, we headed out on one of the tracks for a walk. We found a great place along the lake, with a nice sandy beach, and stopped there. Craig and Stephen were very brave and actually went swimming. Lee and I were chicken - the water was cold, and there were millions of SAND FLIES!! We all madly applied insect repellent, but we all got bitten.

After the swim, we headed back to the Lodge, to change clothes for dinner. At this point, we all smelled like "eau de insect repellent"! As I was changing clothes in the ladies room, sand flies were biting my back - where there was no repellent! Miserable creatures!!

But, our reward was a glass of wine on the deck, while waiting for our table, and then, a fabulous dinner!! Lee and Stephen each ordered mussels as an appetizer, and Craig and I shared an order of garlic cheese bread. The salmon and duck were fabulous, and we ended the evening with sticky date pudding!! Then, it was back over the gravel road, and home to Queenstown, and a rousing game of 500!
More of the beautiful scenery on the way to Glenorchy

Lake Wakatipu with the southern alps in the background.

A beautiful mirrored reflection of mountains and clouds.

As we were taking the picture above, a car stopped to do the same thing, so we took pictures for each other! I love when that happens!

On the way to Paradise

This was our picnic spot! It was beautiful!!

This log was a great excuse to be silly!

This is Lake Wakatipu, and the sandy swimming beach we found

Kinloch Lodge. The restaurant is on the left, behind the umbrellas. It's a small, intimate restaurant, with about 10 tables - ALL of which were full!

Stephen and Craig, swimming!

Another kindly person took this picture of the four of us after dinner. There was a beautiful sunset that evening, as well.

Sunday the 7th - Arrowtown and Wine Tasting

On the agenda for Sunday was to visit Arrowtown and do some wine tasting, as we were in the heart of the Otago wine region.

We left Queenstown and took the gorge road across the Shotover river. You can ride on the jet boats on the river - a ride for thrill-seekers! Lee, Craig and Stephen had done that the last time they were in Queenstown (about 12 years ago!) and said it was a blast! It's on the list for next time!

After watching the jet boats miss the side of the canyon by mere inches, we continued on to Arrowtown. Arrowtown was quite a boom town during the gold rush days, and you can still see buildings that were built back then. Now, of course, it has great cafes, shops and old buildings, but you can still pan for gold on the Arrow river there.

We had a lovely picnic lunch on the banks of the river, then headed off to do some wine tasting. We stopped first at Mt. Difficulty winery, where they specialize in Pinot Noir, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc wines. Their wines were great, and we came out with a few bottles!

Next was Chard Farm winery. They also had great wines, and we enjoyed tasting their wines, and bought more wine there, too!

On the way back to Queenstown, we stopped at the Kawarau bridge, which spans the Kawarau gorge. There is a new, modern bridge, and the old suspension bridge, built in 1880, which is one of the places that you can bungy jump, if you so desire!

We spent quite a bit of time there, and hiked down the gorge to the river. It was incredibly beautiful there. By the time we arrived the bungy jumping had ended for the day, so we didn't actually get to see anyone jump.

Then it was back to the supermarket for chicken and salad for dinner, and back to the apartment for munchies and G&T on the deck!

After dinner, we played a rousing card game of 500 - which Lee and Craig won!

Another wonderful day!

The Shotover river, with the signature blue water that we saw so often in the South Island.

Jet boat, going very fast - high canyon walls - very, very exciting!!

More adrenalin!

This was a cute little church in Arrowtown. What you can't see is that the entry to the church was flanked by two HUGE Sequoia redwoods!

The main street of Arrowtown. Note the old car!

This little row of houses were originally gold miner's houses.

The Arrow river - a delightful place for our picnic!

Wine country! Note the incredible cloud formations, too.

The Kawarau river

Chard Farm winery.

This was a sculpture of a woman riding a bike - all made out of grape vines! We couldn't resist posing with her!

Quite a different sculpture, for sure!

The old bridge spanning the Kawarau river.

The dedication plaque for the original bridge.

The suspension bridge was built and anchored right into the rock.

The new bridge spanning the Kawarau river.

Do you see a theme here? Munchies and G&Ts on the deck!

Another beautiful sunset on the Remarkables from our deck.

The Remarkables - Saturday

After a late night on Friday, we had a leisurely start to Saturday.

Lee and I walked down to the farmers market and craft fair on the lakeside. We had lots of fun looking at the different crafts, although we didn't actually find the farmer's market! Just as well, as we had plenty of stuff in the apartment, and didn't particularly want to carry produce around with us, or take it back to the apartment.

About 1:00 we got a text from Craig and Stephen that it was "beer 0'clock", so we met them in Queenstown, then went to the Flame Bar and Grill for a beer and lunch. We had a great table on the balcony of this second story restaurant, and enjoyed watching the world go by below us.

After lunch we went back to the apartment for the car, as Craig and Stephen had a destination in mind! We left Queenstown, through Franklin, past the airport, and headed up to the Remarkables Ski area! It was quite a winding road, a series of switchbacks up the mountain, on a gravel road! We were very glad that Stephen was driving! We stopped about half-way up for a photo op, and I thought that we weren't going any further, but no - on we went, to the end of the road! It was totally amazing! You could see forever from the Remarkables ski area, and we did a bit of hiking around as well. We took lots of pictures, and totally enjoyed the wonderful views and cool breezes, as it really was quite warm in town.

Craig drove on the way down, and we again bumped along the switch backs. Some of the switchbacks were so sharp that we ended up in our own dust! But we made it down, and back to paved roads.

Our next stop was the supermarket, where we got lamb, corn and salad fixings for dinner. Then our goal was to head home, as we were well past our G&T time, and our deck was waiting for us.

Dinner was delicious! Craig fixed the lamb, Stephen cooked the corn (cooked in the microwave in the husks - fabulous!) and I made the salad.

We spent the evening on the deck, looking at the totally amazing display of stars - we even saw a satellite going across the sky - another amazing day!!

Half-way up the mountain, with the southern alps in the background. You can see the twisty little road that we were driving on.

The Queenstown airport with lake Wakitipu behind it.

At the top! You can see Lake Hayes and the Kawarau river.

No caption needed! Remarkables!

More Remarkables!

Mountains, clouds and really big rocks! There were lots of little rivulets coming down the mountains, so there must have been snow/ice that we couldn't see.

Craig and Stephen in the tussocks. There's a little creek creeking along behind them.

Craig and Stephen did a good job of setting this shot up - we only had to climb over a few rocks - and you can see the creek!

On the deck with munchies and G&Ts!! Life is good!!

Milford Sound - Friday the 5th

We were all up bright and early, had breakfast and tea/coffee, and were on the road to Milford Sound before 7:00 am! An amazing feat in itself!

If you look at a map of the area, as the crow flies, Queenstown is very close to Milford Sound - however, as the road goes, it's about a 4.5 hour drive. We left Queenstown on highway 6, going south, to highway 94, where we headed west toward Te Anau, which was our breakfast and fueling stop. The trip to Te Anau was overcast and cloudy, but it was clearing as we traveled on to Milford Sound.

The entrance into Milford Sound is through a one-way tunnel, the Homer tunnel, which is about 2-4 km's long. Traffic through it is controlled by a traffic signal, and it actually moves quite quickly. We were in sunshine up to the tunnel, and since we had time, we stopped for some photo ops and a bit of a hike. However, when we emerged from the tunnel, we were in FOG! That didn't last long, though, as we came down the mountain to the sound, we got below the fog, and even had sunshine.

We had booked a noon sailing time to do a tour of the sound. BTW, Milford Sound is mis-named - it's actually a fjord, as it was gauged out by a glacier, not by a river, which is how sounds come about. We had hats, sunscreen, windbreakers and lunch, and climbed aboard out boat, aptly called the Milford Wanderer.

We were able to get seats outside in the front of the boat, so we had great seats for all of the wondrous sights. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking! There really aren't words to describe the sheer majesty of the mountains - and our pictures really don't do it justice either. We sailed out through the fjord to the Tasman Sea, and we were very lucky with the weather - it was blue skies and sunshine, and the water was very calm, even the Tasman. We saw the lighthouse, and were treated to a show by the Dusky Dolphins, jumping and turning in the air. There were lots of waterfalls coming down from the mountains.

We were treated to close-up views of the mile-high Mitre Peak - a recognizable New Zealand icon. Coming back into the fjord was spectacularly beautiful. Our captain took us close to the waterfall, and we were told that Maori legend says that anyone who gets bathed with water from the fall will be 10 years younger in two weeks! I only have one more week to go!!

On the way back in, we stopped at a research center to drop off some people who were spending the night there. Apparently the research center goes down many metres into the sound, with glass throughout, giving a great view to the marine life. It would be so cool to see that!

Our Milford Sound cruise came to an end all too quickly, and we piled back in the car for the drive to Te Anau where we had dinner, then boarded the 7:00 pm boat cruise of Lake Te Anau, on the way to the glow worm caves! The trip across the lake was beautiful - a calm, peaceful lake. The glow worm caves were amazing! We were able to get very close to the glow worms, and they glowed like little miniature LED lights. The hungrier they are, the brighter they get. There was also a show about them before the tour which was very informative.

Then, back across the lake, and in the car for the trip home! We got home at nearly midnight, after a spectacular day! We used nearly ALL the hours on Friday - and the scenery alone was worth every second of it!!

Thanks, Craig and Stephen, for all that driving!!

This is a shot of the mountains and clouds along the way, outside of Te Anau.

We stopped before going through the Homer tunnel for some pictures and a bit of a hike - again, we took millions of pictures!

Another wonderful waterfall, and some remaining ice.

The Homer tunnel - quite an engineering feat! The road through the tunnel actually changes elevation.

More waterfalls! I love waterfalls.

And more, cascading down the mountain. I'd love to be here in October, when the mountains are alive with water!

Spectacular, or what?? Not us - the scenery!

Craig and Stephen, with a small glacier behind them.

More splendor!

Milford Sound!! That's Mitre Peak peaking out behind the cloud

Here's our trusty sailing vessel - the Milford Wanderer!! Very appropriate for us - we found Lee a t-shirt that says: "Not all who wander are lost"!

A great day for a sail!!

Heading out into the fjord! The water is spectacularly blue!!

This was an amazing waterfall!

Heading out through the sound, between all the mountains.

Out to the Tasman Sea. Note the lighthouse perched on the rock. Like our lighthouses, none of these are manned any longer.

Dusky dolphins!!

Heading back into the fjord from the Tasman Sea - just beautiful!

More amazing beauty!

Fur seals!

Here's the magic waterfall! We're going to get closer!

There! We got all doused with spray, which I rubbed all over my face! Can't wait to look 10 years younger!

Heading into the research station. This little cove was beautiful, there's a beach to the right. You can spend the night there, and they offer lots of water sports, as well as a big bar-b-que and a morning sail.

More waterfalls!

Mitre Peak, this time without the clouds. As we came back into the dock, there were bottle-nose dolphins in the harbor, splashing around.

Four happy sailors, ready for the next adventure!! This was SUCH an amazing trip!! I'm so glad that we did it, and I'll remember it always!