Queenstown (Nov 9-10)

Cameron Flats on Haast Highway

Tuesday afternoon, with the glorious Haast River behind us, we continued through Mt Aspiring National Park on Highway 6 which now ran along the Makarora River. A bit past a lookout at Cameron Flats, the river flowed into the northern end of Lake Wanaka. The road then veers to the east and views of Wanaka's even prettier little sister, Lake Hawea come into view.

Back in familiar Wanaka, we stopped for gas in preparation for the scenic drive to Treble Cone Ski Field but the unsealed road up was closed. Last time here a flat tire cut short the Mt Aspiring scenic drive so now we *really* must return to Wanaka.

Lake Hawea

Onward to Queenstown via Crown Range Road, but no rain or snow this time, thank goodness! We appreciated flowering trees and in general more greenery all around the Southern Lakes area in late Spring. We found a reasonably priced motel just off the "Adventure Capital of the World" main drag, but still an easy walking distance to town where we wanted to stroll around and check out the Queenstown Gardens before dinner.





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We were prepared to not be as high on bustling and touristy Queenstown, but we were wrong. It is indeed bigger and touristier than most places in the South Island, but it is still very lovely. Maybe in the peak season we would feel differently, but for now, surrounded by the Remarkables, amongst other mountains, and nestled at the base of bright blue Lake Wakatipu, how could we complain? The Queenstown Gardens on a small peninsula in the center of it all was great too, with walking paths, disc golf, bowling greens and even an ice skating arena. Our need for thrills had been previously satisfied in Christchurch with "extreme medical tourism"  our surgery plus aftershocks adventure, so we passed on the opportunities to bungy jump, sky dive, hang glide, parasail, white water raft, jetboat or zorb.

Panorama of Queenstown

On Wednesday we would spend the entire day in Queenstown. We weren't sure exactly what we'd do, but there would be no driving anywhere! We happened to be awake and ready in time to take the first tour of the morning to Walter's Peak Station aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw steamship. Susan wasn't sure she'd like such a touristy activity, but Mike persuaded her to give it a try and we both ended up having a blast. The boat trip gave us yet another nice view of the area. Some Japanese tourists were hamming it up for the camera, and their antics amused us throughout the tour.

Susan's new friend at Walter Peak Station

The majority of the station was still in operation as a privately owned sheep farm, but the portion of the farm we visited had been purchased by the big tourism operator, Real Journeys. Our farmer, Lindsay, talked to us about the sheep industry before his sheep shearing demonstration, while a future sheep-herding dog was passed around to be cuddled. Next we watched a sheepdog in action and her movements reminded Susan of a special black dog from her past (sniffle). Sheep feeding was next. Everyone else was busily feeding sheep when Susan noticed a straggler black lamb standing quietly away from the rest. Changing her mind about feeding, Susan grabbed a handful of pellets and headed toward the little guy who eagerly munched down the kibble. Mike likes little lambs almost as much as ducklings, and jumped at the chance to hold one...right after Susan insisted he pick one up for a picture. But really, he enjoyed it.

The next activity, right after handwashing, was morning tea in the beautiful farmhouse overlooking Lake Wakatipu. Lindsay then lead the group past the gardens to see other animals, while offering more information about the station's history. They kept Highland Cattle for show, but Lindsay admitted that the weather was really too warm for them here. In another paddock, some visitors were totally thrilled to see Llamas and Red Deer. It's a big world.

Crested Grebe on Lake Wakatipu

Back in Queenstown, we stopped for lunch at the Bathhouse restaurant. We then booked our long awaited trip to Stewart Island trip at the iSite, and inquired about the grebes we'd seen at the lake. One of the workers, Matt, was a keen birder and told us just where to go along the lake to reliably see them, but he did not know where they were nesting. He did know of a New Zealand Falcon nest north of Queenstown near Glenorchy, and suggested an area where we might see some Yellowheads. We thought we were done in the area, but since we hadn't been to Glenorchy yet and with this new birding information, we had to come back.

After our Crested Grebe photo op, we took the gondola ride in late afternoon and enjoyed tremendous views. We're really running out of adjectives to describe the beauty of this country.

Where to next?