From ponchos to tee-shirts
Apologies for Steve's unauthorised blog yesterday. Don't know where he gets that humour.
He was right about one thing. The rain that began at noon yesterday finally stopped at 2pm today. It washed out this morning's glacier views, but made the drive through mountains and forests all the more atmospheric. And it cleared into glorious sunshine for the last part of today's journey, into Queenstown alongside huge lakes of intense green-blue (I say aquamarine, Barb says teal - take your pick). Incredible scenery. Barbara/Brian - thanks for your advice about the Cardrona valley route (including roadside lupins of amazing blue, pink, yellow and magenta).
Also a huge thanks to Barb's sister Nancy for the ponchos (as modelled above) - they saved the day.
We'll stay three days in Queenstown - a tourist centre famous for activities. We're agreed about the Lake Cruise (yes) and the bungy (no), but divided about the Shotover Jet, a jetboat ride through the rapids. Its literature focusses on the health benefits of being really scared, which I'm not sure is quite the right marketing strategy - but I'm keen, so we'll see.
Some of the many things to admire about New Zealand: the universal friendliness of the people, the ratio of road space to vehicles, and flat white coffee.
Steve apologises for the lack of a photo yesterday - where the internet signal is weak (as here too) it's sometimes hard to upload a picture. Those of you who appreciate Steve's writing - you know who you are - might look out for future offerings from our other companions, the lion (Henry) and the rhino (Spearmint). I'm considering investing in another sheep, if only for the potential blog title Two sheep; perchance to dream? But maybe not.
Hi, you two.
ReplyDeleteLooked up my 1997 NZ diary for Sat 8 March. We were visiting Queenstown. Thought you might like to compare your experience with ours.
Must have slept well because we didn't wake up till just before 8. The sunlight was streaming through the trees across the motor park, a promise of the brilliant day that it turned out to be, though the cabin was quite chilly after a night without heating. Our own breakfast had as its centrepiece a boiled egg supported by a toilet roll (in the absence of eggcups!). We had planned that today should be taken at great leisure so we proceeded with unhurried showers as the morning warmed up. The test match had started up again in Dunedin (overcast, drizzle) at 10.30 before we set off on foot to find the gondola station. Unlike the Ruapehu experience, these were enclosed cabins travelling at 8mph from 340m to 790m (2600 ft) above sea level. The view from the top must unquestionably be one of NZ's most spectacular over the Lake Wakatipu region, the Remarkables and other mountains and the town itself and afforded some great video opportunities. The weather obliged by being as perfect as it is possible to imagine. Before drinking all this in, though, we paid to see a remarkable film called Kiwi Magic in wide screen with surroundsound showing plane and helicopter rides over dramatic bits of NZ, some of which were quite stomach churning. After gazing down from the various vantage points of the decks, we inspected the restaurant and swiftly decided to return for an evening buffet meal (free gondola rides). The cafe was the next place to gain our custom as we sat peacefully over a salmon sandwich, a ginger slice, tea and bottomless coffee. The headline in the paper: "Fijians await 240kmh winds".
When you go down with the gondola you come back to earth in more senses than one. We walked on into town and strolled up and down a few streets, looking in on the Visitors' Centre (which was wired for e-mail and the Net), buying a coffee/walnut cornet, ambling along the lakeside promenade, surveying a street market and a souvenir shop before climbing back up to Man Street and back to the lodge. Elaine did a little washing while I had the hard job of sunbathing.
At 5.30 we left to take the gondola for the second time today and our evening meal in a restaurant hanging over the edge of a mountainside. Not only was it a rather splendid buffet but we also had what we were told was the best seat in the house, in a corner that allowed us to look down on the whole town and see all the mountains and most of the lake. Watching the line of darkness creep across the landscape from that height was fascinating as the sun fell behind the mountains behind us. Boats on the water looked like skater insects leaving snail trails on the surface. The rocks turned deep mauve and little fluffy clouds appeared in the sky and turned colour.
The food was good indeed and we had several dishes over the course of 2 and a half hours (seafood selection, cold meats, salads, lamb and ham with veges, desserts, fruit salad, cheeseboard). Coach parties of people arrived in waves and took happy photos of one another and sang Happy Birthday To You. Waitresses scooped up empty plates from under our noses but we scarcely noticed such interruptions.
This had been a jewel of a day and made Queenstown memorable for us when we had rather expected it to be graspingly commercial. Once again, New Zealand had managed to surprise us.
Ohh, Queenstown! So much to do, so little time!
ReplyDeleteSo far as the Shotover is concerned - go for it! Reconcile yourselves to getting wet, but don't worry about the scary bit. Margaret really enjoyed it as well as me, and it's great preparation for the Dart River trip which is another 'must do'. We went with Dart River Safaris http://www.zqn.co.nz/dartriver/, but drove ourselves from Queenstown to Glenorchy for flexibility. Other things we enjoyed doing were driving out to Arrow Town, and (I) enjoyed the Luge run on the top of the Gondola - it's quite addictive... If you are a bit braver, then a tandem paraglide is fun (that's tandem with an expert, not the two of you together!). It sounds as though you plan the trip on the Earnslaw - if you do the afternoon run you might get the grand piano singalong as well.
Finally, if you fancy a quiet evening - there is a small but rather good cinema in the middle of Queenstown. We have been there twice - and that's more than we have managed for films at The Vue.
Finally, while on the subject of The Vue, if you are driving down to Te Anau on your way to Milford Sound, keep an eye open for Garston. Blink and you might miss it, but it is there.
No trains in or out of Euston (power failure this time), my corner of my cul-de-sac still a skid pan from two-day old snow, NCFC still struggling... wish you were here?
ReplyDeleteWas with Delia at Charlton. The Charlton chairman said: ".. and I've put £15m in which I won't see again and it's not enough to make a difference." Delia said: "We've put in nearly that much, don't expect to get it back, I've started working again to get money to put in, but we can't make a difference".
Being the crawler that I am, I told them both that they had made a profound difference.
Sarah and I have booked a Kenyan safari for March, so we won't be this cold for much longer, but what you are doing will make Sarah put pressure on me to somehow get several months away from writing/broadcasting etc. It looks wonderful. We'll log in regularly. Take care.
Sounds like a blast. Me next year. In the meantime I thought you'd get a kick out of picturing me at the Maine Inaugural luncheon at the New Zealand Embassy in DC, hosted by His Excellency Roy Ferguson and Mrs. Ferguson (can I call her Fergie?). Pinkies up if the tea is in fine china on Monday January 19th! Send me along some local phrase I can drop if cornered by one of the down-unders, will you? And Barb, wish you were here to help me find a gown for the Ball. Argh! Cheers, Andrea Page
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