Wanaka is a very nice little town nestled in the mountains. Much like Jasper. Skiing, hiking, fishing and boating are the main activities. We walked along the shore of the lake and had another nice meal; this time we decided to buy a roast chicken and some salad which we ate on the beach. Of course, no meal in NZ is complete without a bottle of local wine. Incidentally, the wine here is really very good. So far we have tried the Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. All are exceptional. Not cheap (average cost about $15 in the super market and double that in the restaurants). Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to take one of the local tracks which would have provided us with some badly needed exercise (I'm putting on weight but Lucille seems to be holding her own; she says it is because of all the extra wine I drink).
The next morning we took the road to Queenstown which is the highest highway in NZ (1076 m). Along the way we had to stop at one of the original hotels which was built in the late 1800s to service the gold miners. Nice old place but it was too early for a beer. We then stopped in Arrowtown which was the local gold mining town. It is a very pretty town with lots of old colonial buildings and a small Chinese settlement. However, we ended up spending most of our time shopping for clothes (first time since we got to NZ so it wasn't so bad).
Queenstown was named by Mr. Rees who was the first white person to visit the area and was so taken with the view that he said it was a place fit for a Queen. Another beautiful day!! Sunny and warm (30C). We caught our steam boat at 2:00 pm which took us across the lake Wakatipu (83kms long and 405 meters deep) to one of the original homesteads. We were given a tour of the boat and briefing about it's history. Incredible, when you learn that they used to carry everything needed by the farmers on this boat including 1200 sheep at a time. The original engine keeps working and consumes appro. 12 tons of coal per day. The farm raises deer (800) and sheep (20,000). They raise the deer for their horns (sold in Asia for medicinal purposes and as an aphrodisiac)and meat. You should see the horns on these babies, a hunter's dream come true! We also saw another sheep shearing demo (when you seen one you seen them all). The fellow who gave us the tour was a real character, very typical, a really dry sense humour which we have come to appreciate more as we travel around the great country.
Saturday January 19, we took a Jet boat trip along the Shotover canon. We are still not sure which was most frightening; the road (if you can call it that) or the actual boat trip. Most of the trip was along a narrow track which you would have trouble driving a 4x4 over let alone a mini-bus. The worse part was that all along the track there were shear precipices hundreds of meters deep. Lucille said she wasn't worried but I was more than a little concerned at times. We were only a few inches from going to meet our maker! They say that a brave man only dies once so I guess I'm not as brave as I thought I was. We will never complain about our road to the cottage again!! Those of you who have been to our cottage will know what we mean.
The boat ride was almost as frightening since we came so close to the rocks that I was sure that we were going to hit (actually I did notice a lot of blue paint of some of the rock outcroppings). The spins were fun and the whole trip was awesome. I did hear Lucille squeal a few times so perhaps she is not as brave as I thought she was.
Next stop Te Anua.
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