Final sunrise for us in Qtown -- the Remarkables
Wednesday was our one long day of driving, going the six plus hours from Queenstown to Christchurch. It took longer than that, but we stopped multiple times to take in the stunning scenery, have a leisurely lunch, or stretch our legs.
(Btw, I’m writing this Sunday morning on the flight to Sydney. I know the blog is out of order, but that’s how I roll. Or how I blog. Or something.)
The first stop was just by the Queenstown Airport at the Remarkables shopping centre. The mouse pad on my laptop was in its last throes of life, so I bought a mouse, which the helpful sales guy easily installed for me. Then a petrol fillup, and on the road again. A quick stop at Lake Hayes for a brief walk and some pictures, and then, yes, on the road again.
Lake Hayes, above and below.
Yes, picking up the reflection
of the snow-capped
mountains was intentional
At Jim Ashe’s suggestion, we turned left on the road to the Cadrona Skifield and headed to Wanaka (I think it is pronounced Wan-uh-kuh, but I’m not sure). The road climbed up and up on the Cadrona mountain range. Then, we rode along up high for a while, with spectacular views all around us. Off in the distance we could see Mount Aspiring and the Treble Cone skifield.
(I know I use the word “spectacular” a lot to describe the scenery in New Zealand, but that’s because it fits!)
Of course, we had to wind down the range at some point, get back down to the valley. That was a fun roller coaster ride down, again with beautiful scenery all around.
Our next stop was in Wanaka, so we could walk lakeside, freeze in the wind, and take pictures of a huge, yet stunningly beautiful lake. And then, yes, back on the road again.
Lake Wanaka, and Mt.
Aspiring in the distance.
Some day it hopes to be
something.
As we rolled on toward Omarama, we came up on the Lindis Pass. It was hyped on the website, and since there were multiple signs indicating the remaining kilometers to the pass, I figured the views would be amazing. They were beautiful, but did not live up to the hype. We walked to both overlooks, took pictures, shrugged, and got back on the road again.
Lindis Pass. It didn't live up to the hype.
I would bet late spring and summer are nicer.
I passed on getting lunch in Omarama, preferring to wait for Twizel. Why? Beats me. As we drove north, the temperatures warmed up, which only makes sense south of the equator! We drove between the Southern Alps on our left (to the west) and Oteake Conservation Area to our right (to the east!).
In Twizel, we stopped at world-famous Poppies for lunch. How do I know it is world famous? The small billboard on the road said so, and I take all advertising at face value. The food was quite good, and it was a pleasant little diversion from the road.
Alas, we did not see any Twizzlers for sale in Twizel.
Btw, there are not many billboards in NZ, and they are all much smaller than the huge US billboards. Attractions, towns, picnic area, and public toilets are all very well signed. This highway we drove – one of two main north-south roads on the South Island – was mostly a two lane road without much traffic. No separation, and few four lane passing areas. However, coming upon a truck was no sweat. If the road was straight, it was easy to pass. If the road was windy and hilly, the truck got over at some point to make passing easy. Small towns (sometimes a blink of an eye) were miles (or even more kilometers) apart. Like 40-50 miles.
After Twizel, we stopped at Lake Pukaki, which afforded fabulous views of far-off Mount Cook. So, we were up close and personal to the top of the mountain the day before, while today we got the distance perspective from a much lower altitude. Both perspective were stunning.
One stop at Lake Pukaki
Two views of Mount Cook
We stopped several times along the shores of Lake Pukaki because the angles for photos to Mount Cook were great.
A slightly different angle on Mount Cook.
However, from either location, the height
of the mountain doesn't change.
Nearly Duck Season!
We fed two other ducks some crackers that Carol found in a bag in the car, including the one who didn’t want to move out of the way of our car. Carol let the ducks take the crackers right from her hand, and nearly got bit for her kindness. Maddy and I were much saner, and threw the cracker pieces to the ducks. The female bossed the male around and got the lion’s share of the food.
Lake Tekapo, I see you!
(Funny story. In Queenstown, down by the waterfront, Maddy remarked on the ducks. I made up a story that they were not native to New Zealand, but many years ago some Chinese workers had brought some ducks in crates to New Zealand so they could have Peking Duck dinners occasionally. However, the crates dropped onto the docks, broke, and the ducks escaped. She bought it hook, line and sinker. She virtually quacked in anger when I broke her heart by telling her I had just made up the story! It’s a wonder my daughters don’t all hate me.)
On the way out of town, there was a young Asian woman hitchhiking, with a sign that said Christchurch. Both Carol and Maddy were incensed that I stopped to pick her up, so the compromise was that I told her we could take her just past Geraldine.
Once we started talking with her, the other two felt better. They had never picked up a hitchhiker before. We saw a number of people hitchhiking in Queenstown, but we either were not going far or had a full load of groceries/luggage in the car. I used to hitchhike back in the late 70s, and did a bunch in England, Scotland, and Switzerland in 1984. I would not want my daughters, or anyone else, to do it today in the States. A few years ago I picked up a hitchhiker in Colorado, and a couple times near our house in Alexandria. I rarely see hitchhikers anymore. A few psychopaths have ruined a good thing.
Our hitchhiker is 25 and from Taiwan. After university, she worked a couple of years as a social worker there, and then left her job to spend a year on a working vacation in New Zealand. She was trading work at YHAs (hostels) for room. She had to work two hours a day, and then go hiking at Mount Cook National Park. Her favorite area so far was Wanaka, while she thought Queenstown was too crowded and noisy (28,000 people, although it does swell with tourists).
After a bit more talking (her English is better than my Chinese, but after a bit we all fell silent). She had a lot of courage. We were taking the longer inland route, so I let her off at the more direct route to Christchurch. If she didn’t like the “size” of Qtown, she wasn’t going to stay in Christchurch long.
She showed a lot of courage, going off on her own, to a country not of her first language, and traveling around with no set plan. Best of luck to her!
Other than seeing more snow-capped mountains, and a “Farquhar’s Road,” our hitchhiker was the last of the excitement on the road to Christchurch. In fact, given how boring Christchurch was, it was probably the last of the excitement until we arrived in Kaikoura (that’s exaggeration – the would-be mugger following us through the dead streets of Christchurch was more excitement than we needed that night!)
We arrived around 5:45pm and commenced to be underwhelmed by Christchurch.
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