NQueenstown/ Arrowtown/Milford Sound
Haven't been able to post photos from April 5-8th. Will post them as soon as I'm able. By chance, the photos for April 9th got through....unfortunately not the previous ones.
Queenstown April 9 -as we usually do, we headed out with a general idea in mind and let luck mold our day. We walked from Frankton into Queenstown and continued on until we found the trail (they call it a 'track' in NZ). it's destination would be the Skyline/gondola at Bob's peak. It was an arduous climb that reminded us of a challenging trail, our Bradley took us in in kauai last summer....minus the creeks, rivers, slippery rocks and heat. It took us 2 hours to reach the peak!!! Only in New Zealand would you find an extreme bike trail alongside a hiking trail. It was exhilarating and heart pumping to watch those adventurers fly past us! They would ride down full speed and climb back up on the gondola with their bikes in tow and do it over and over again! They had absolutely no fear!
The views were spectacular at the top. There were more offers of other extreme opportunities, such as bungee jumping, hand gliding and concrete luge.
We relaxed and shared a lunch. Chicken tikka masala (surprisingly good for that type of venue..oh, we shared a breakfast at the Vudu cafe that morning because a breakfast of two eggs and today was $18-20 and as usual, it helps the waistline too).
We debated walking or taking the gondola down, and again to be healthy and save money, we decided to walk down. Two days later, my legs are still sore. I miss my walks with my buddies, Cindy, Janice and Noreen, back home. I've been walking on the treadmill in Berwick but I don't think it's the same.
We walked home and went to bed quite early, like a couple of old folks.
Arrowtown -April 10
Arrowtown is a lovely gold mining town with shops, cafes and a trail along the river. It was a nice relaxing day. We had the best mushroom soup with truffle oil at the Chop Spot overlooking the mountains. Arrowtown is surrounded by wineries.
Milford Sound -April 11
It was sad to leave beautiful Queenstown this morning for many reasons, including that little Prince George would be here in a couple of days.
Norm and I didn't get a good night sleep worrying about the drive to Milford Sound the largest national park in NZ on the south west coast of the south island. We were warned about the rock and tree avalanches along the way. There are many accidents on this road ...The only road into Milford Sound. It's known as the most dangerous road in NZ!
We started out at 6am in total darkness and we started to feel more comfortable when the sun started to burn off the clouds and shed some light on our drive. The roads were twisted, hilly and totally confused our NZ GPS. She kept asking us to make U-turn because one minute the road was going in one direction, the next it was 180° in the other.
We saw spectacular views along the road to Milford Sound!! Mirror lakes was had stunning views! Apparently, there are 1000 earthquakes per month in this area. Some you don't feel and other more noticeable ones...just like the San Francisco bay area.
We passed 45° latitude south! That is the furthest south we've ever travelled!!!
We boarded the GoOrange boat and travelled through the fjords towards the Tasman sea! It was incredible! Would never want to take this beauty for granted.
We thankfully had a short drive back to Te Anua a little town at entrance of the Fiorland National Park. We stayed at a lovely B&B Norm found on Airbnb. We could see why she won top honourson Trip Advisor. Gillian greeted us with a glass of wine and a tray of hors d'oeuvres and chatted with us and her friend who is owner of only Subway in town. They told us that they had purchased a couple of cows and sheep for their meat. They meet and treat the animals as pets and then....they are on their plates for dinner. That would make the best meat lover convert to vegetarianism.
Her husband works in oil in Nigeria and was kidnapped and released in 2006. We forgot that we payed to stay in her home. She felt like a good friend.
Her one fault was that she recommended the Redcliffe #1 tripadvisor restaurant and was THE WORST food we've ever had!!!
Another day of driving ahead to Oamaru..right across the south end of New Zealand!
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