Jet Boating on the Shotover River

The staff took this photo and the one below.

The Shotover looking up river.

One of the boats passes by the beach. You can
see how shallow the water is and how close they
come to the beach. 

A selfie on the boat during a brief
stop to watch other boats go by.

 

This is one of the iconic things to do in New Zealand and it deserves it's reputation. What fun! The overcast day didn't diminish the experience either. We drove ourselves to their headquarters on the river and joined the crowds waiting for their time slot. Two boats go out about every 15 minutes and it takes about a half an hour. They have this down to a science and thank goodness as it looks pretty dangerous. In fact they haven't had an accident for a long time and when it did happen way back, no one was hurt and it was a mechanical problem. The drivers really know their business. 

We stopped for a few minutes and watched another
boat come through a narrow spot and do "the spin".
We did a lot of these ourselves - fun!!!

There is a lot of screaming and laughing. We not only enjoyed our experience but watching the other boats. Well worth the money. We had some lunch back at our apartment and then drove down the long and winding road to Glenorchy.  The overcast weather continued but it was still really scenic. We stopped and had a nice hike up to Lookout Point with great views of the lake and the Tooth Peaks. 

It was still a gloomy day driving up to Glenorchy.

But still very scenic.

Looking inland from Lookout Point

The viewing platform on Lookout Peak looking
back to Queenstown.

That night ate the variety of leftovers in the frig. The day we arrived in Queenstown, after the Gondola trip, we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant a short walk away and bought groceries for breakfasts and at least one dinner. So we had lots of choices. Sunday started out with lots of rain so we did laundry and got caught up with computer things - several blog posts and settled our plans for Vancouver and on to NYC and Raleigh. 

There were several jet boat companies on the lake
but it didn't look as exciting as our trip.

A boardwalk extends along the lake through
town.

Scott loves to photograph birds and flowers.

Then the rain let up and sun came out. So we drove down into Queenstown and walked around. Our first impression had been poor as the main street is lined with souvenir shops etc. But as soon as we headed down to the lake, it brightened up considerably. Parks and wharfs line the lakefront with nice restaurants and pedestrian streets. We were surprised to see another White & Wong's, not realizing it was a chain. And our lunch was excellent once again and provided yet more leftovers. 

There was a big pond with tons of flowering
waterlilies.

There were several lake cruise options available but we decided to do one of them in the morning before flying out on Tuesday. So we just had a nice walk there and then over at the Botanical Gardens on a peninsula across from the town. As it was a Sunday many couples and families were out for a stroll. There was a big frisbee gold tournament going on and the bowling green had several couples participating. That's new game for us so we enjoying sitting a and watching a match.  

The beautiful bowling green.

This is the young couple we cheered on.

One of the golf frisbee groups checks on their scores. You can see Queenstown across the lake.

Finally we returned to our apartment, and later walked down to the local pub for dinner. Tomorrow was our big day - a 12 hour tour down to the Milford Sound and the Fjordland National Park. Which will be my next blog post.

Mount Cook National Park

The Church of the Good Shepherd and beyond it the mountains of the Mt. Cook National Park

As I've mentioned previously we changed our original plans to go directly to Queenstown from Christchurch due to the distance and added a stop mid way in Omarama. This had the additional benefit of allowing us more stops to look at the scenery and to visit Mt. Cook National Park. And what a day to do it! Bright sunshine and clear views. It was a delight to set out early with that day ahead!

Sheep, deer, cattle all graze over the endless fields

One sheep found the activities in our car park
quite interesting. 

Views of distant mountains followed us all the way from Christchurch to Omarama.

We stopped briefly in several of the pullovers provided pretty often (both for photos and to allow traffic behind you to pass) and then had a great visit to the Church of the Good Shepherd. This is a iconic scene shown often in photos of New Zealand. It's close to the Mt. Cook National Park and on one of the beautiful lakes, Tekapo, that make this Mackenzie District so famous. Built in 1933 it features a large picture window instead of the usual painting or crucifix. 

A view of Mt. Cook from the Hermitage

The Alpine Center had films, artifacts and lots of
history & photos of the area. 

The drive up to Mt. Cook is along the lake at first and then up to the head of the valley. There is a small community there serving tourists, hikers and winter sports. The Center illustrates the overall history of the area, especially mountaineering.  Glaciers cover 40 percent of the park and Mt. Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand at 12, 217 feet and was the training ground for their most famous mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary. This has been a popular spot since the first Hermitage Hotel was built in 1884. The current building is the third and finished in 1958. It houses the Sir Edmund Hilary Alpine Center. We sure wish we were able to stay there for several days!

The view from our table at the Omarama Lodge

Scott and I enjoying our wine before dinner.

But we were so grateful that our change in plans allowed us to enjoy this whole area. Our hotel nearby, the Sierra Motel, was very comfortable and walking distance from another great dinner choice - the Omarama Lodge. The hostess and chef were from Nepal and we had a nice talk with her and enjoyed his food very much - local grilled salmon on a bed of black chickpeas & potatoes with a Nepalese spiced sauce. As you can see from the photos - a lovely spot. 

The road up the Lindis Pass

Scott at the viewpoint over the Pass after our 
hike

The next day was beautiful again and after a huge breakfast at the Wrinkly Sheep (who knew they could be wrinkly?), we were on the road again. It took us through the Lindis Psss at 3781 feet the highest in the South Island state road system and second highest in New Zealand. We enjoyed a nice hike up to a viewing point and imagined how difficult it must be in the winter - stops to put on chains are a good hint. We saw them on the Arthur Pass as well and remember them from our trips to Yosemite at the Christmas holidays with our daughter Zoe and her family. 

The Shotover River from the bridge

The view from our table at Cloudy Bay Vineyards

Next we went by several lakes and made an abrupt turn at a sign for a wine tasting at the Cloudy Bay Vineyard. What a beautiful place! We opted for a glass of wine overlooking their pond and vineyards with a snack of pork croquettes. It was just a little early for lunch given the size of our breakfast!

Scott on one of the viewing sites

Queenstown was spread out below us.

We passed over the Shotover River where we would be jet boating the following morning and drove right to the Gondola in the center of Queenstown. We knew the weather was iffy the next day so wanted to see the sights here today. And it was so lovely and gave us a great idea of the area around Queenstown. We had a bit of lunch up there as well. This is Bob's Peak and the first access was a very steep rough road built in 1961. The first gondola was built in 1967 and a new gondola and building were built in 2023. It's quite a complex with hang gliding, bungee jumping, and several luge runs. We were actually tempted by the hang gliding but the price made us hesitant and then when we asked again, they had closed for the day. 

The view from the living room to the deck

One direction from the deck

The lake

Looking at the mountain at sunset

Our Airbnb was really lovely with views in 3 directions and was very comfortable inside. We didn't need two bedrooms but the deck and living area were really spacious for the two of us. We made breakfast each morning and had one dinner in. But more on all that in my next post.  

Arthur's Pass and Christchurch

The mountains had skirts of clouds on this drizzly cold morning.

 Arthur Dobson was the first European to cross over the Southern Alps at the pass now known as Arthur's Pass. The Maori knew of it but used the Harper Pass north of it (also named after a European who first explored that area. As a result the Harper was used until the Gold Rush. when a more suitable crossing was needed for vehicle traffic and in 1865 a rough track was completed for drays over the Athur. The Harper Pass is now an official trail "tramp" that takes 4 or 5 days. 

With all the rain the rivers were raging.

The road climbed over the pass but it was pouring
rain so we didn't get any pictures through it.
Now we're on the other side and it lightened up.

This normally pretty spot on a lake had several
RVs staying there. There are public spots all over
the country and there's a AP to find them. Only 
caveat - there must be toilets if you aren't self
contained.

But the Arthur Pass now is fully paved and it only took us a couple of hours, unfortunately mostly in the rain. Occasionally it would let up when a pull over was available and we got a couple of photos. But it was still beautiful with the clouds and mist hanging over the mountains. We passed many signs for ski area and if the weather had been better, we would have checked some out. 

The Classic Villa retains it's facade and the
original building but has a big addition in the back.

The lounge area where we enjoyed meeting other
guests and talking to our hostess.

The cloudy damp weather held during our stay in Christchurch but we really enjoyed our time there. First of all, our hotel,  the Classic Villa, was superb. Built in 1899 the Italian style home located right in the center of the historic district. We had a room in the original mansion with a marble fireplace but all the conveniences. It was run more like a bed & breakfast with a beautiful lounge and breakfast served buffet style. Our hostess was so friendly and nice. 

Settled in our Hop On Hop Off trolly. We took one
trip around the city and then on the next one,
stopped off to see things.

The trolly runs through this "pedestrian only"
street with shops and restaurants.

We had a very nice lunch at this little place. I
loved the quote from Julia Child, upper left -
"People who love to eat are the best people"

Our one full day we booked the Hop On Hop Off trolley that run through the historic district, and visited the Quake City Museum, the Botanical Gardens and the Arts Center. Christchurch is still under construction after the devastating pair of earthquakes that hit in 2010 and 2011. It was the second one that caused the most damage and loss of life - 185 people and injuring thousands. It was the second deadliest earthquake in New Zealand as 258 died in the Napier quake in 1931. I was in a smaller quake once in the Philippines where we did have to evacuate our house in the night so it was particularly interesting. . We're grateful nothing happened during our visit!

The Curator's House Restaurant - right in the
Botanical Gardens. 

Scott did it again, choosing two wonderful restaurants for our dinners: Featherstone and the Curator's House. The latter was a Spanish Tapas place and so much fun to try a bunch of little plates. SO overall a great visit despite the weather. And the next morning we woke up to a glorious clear sunny day. We had an exciting day ahead visiting Mt. Cook National Park and that will be in my next entry!

A tiny section of the Botanical Gardens, lovely walking and 
right in the center of the city.

Scott loves taking photos of flowers
and he took so many beautiful ones
it was hard to choose..

These retro phone booths work!!!

The River Avon (New Zealand's version) runs through the 
city and you can rent a boat and punt on it.

There are over 28 buildings in the complex but most were badly damaged in the earthquakes. Restoration is still very much ongoing with two thirds of the buildings now open.

The Arts Center is in the original Canterbury 
College started in 1878 that later moved to a 
larger campus out of town.

We chatted with a number of the artists throughout
several of the buildings. These two were 
particularly fun.