After a slow start to the morning we headed out for Wanaka around noon. We decided to drive the Crown Range road there and loop back via the wine trail from Cromwell.
This is the pass heading to Wanaka
The lovely fine weather had become cloudy and cool enough to make it advisable to complete the mountain range crossing sooner in case the weather closed in. I love the zig zag road climbing up from the plains near
Arrowtown.
We keep thinking we have done this before with the kids. It must remind us of similar driving holidays. It would be lovely to have them along one day. We are missing the lovely lupins of our Xmas 2008 trip and find the hills rather forbidding and bare - they are designed for at least a light covering of snow, I think. Without it, the treeless hills with dull green grass becomes rather monotonous.
Taken from our bedroom window this morning.
Wanaka also lacked the magic of our summer stay. There was a driving wind from Mt Aspiring kicking up small waves on the lake which looked an uninviting grey.
We enjoyed our Xmas lunch here in 2008 and drove past our accommodation and on to a dead end, past a whole suburb of modern looking houses. Much nicer than the Lake Hayes suburb near Frankton which reminds me of a mix between Glenmore Park and the Truman Show town Seahaven.
On our drive from Wanaka to Cromwell we sped past a modern "sculpture" with 45th Parallel on it. Should have backtracked for a photo but I'm sure I can pinch one from the Net. Otherwise there will be a blank below this paragraph.
[Not Us]
We stopped at an award winning winery which i won't name here because it left me underwhelmed but you can ask me back home - that goes for all the negative comments that might accrue.
We opened three bottles of red the other night because each time a tried a glass I put it down - what's the point? was my reaction to at least the first two cheap Pinot Noirs. They were better last night with our hamburgers and salsa so it was either the food or the air that improved them.
Rain overnight and heavy cloud have delayed our morning activities. I read the iPad edition of the Herald while Tess played word games. After coffee in our wonderful unit (I'll take a picture with the ipad mini from this very seat to show my view) Tess settled to draw while I typed this entry. We will not venture too far today.
The plans for the rest of the week are weather dependent with only our fly/cruise on Wednesday paid for - hopefully Thursday can be used as a backup date if necessary. Otherwise, I hope to drive out past Glenorchy to the northern end of the Routeburn Track and walk part of it. That will add 150 kays to our Focus but should be lovely if the weather cooperates. Clouds are covering that end of our view at present.
We will try some more wineries tomorrow and I intend cycling each afternoon no matter how muddy the experience. We have used 900M of our 1G allowance already so I expect to run out soon. Not sure if I will buy anymore or just scavenge off the pub's wifi next door. Probably time to try a Speights!
What a long entry. I would recommend these apartments except you have to be a timeshare owner. There are only six. The free bikes, golf sets, games and books remind me of a holiday house. It is such a peaceful experience. I think we are the youngest guests so it's not exactly Club Med, unless the med is short for Medicare!
I may post this first without pictures. COme back when I find more wifi for the pictures. It would be easier if Apple released an S3 sized phone and roaming charges were abolished. Maybe next trip.
By the way, if it seems that I am not enjoying the trip as much this time, blame it on poor writing. The scenery is less colourful but everything else has at least met my expectations and hopefully by Friday, as we set out for Dunedin and other new sights, our Autumn visit to Queenstown will have exceeded anything from the past.
Cheers,
- Rob
PS Good news on the wifi front as they have given me a 24hr code good for 500MB! Any videos worth downloading???
Location:Lake Ave,Queenstown,New Zealand
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