Thu 11 – Sat 13 Jan 24

We are going to try a different way of publishing and see what happens…

Thursday 11 Jan 24

Here goes🤞Mount Cook to Wanaka, Otago

First stop for lunch in Tw-eye-zel where they are clearly used to the heat…and make great pies too😉

Last stop en route to our campsite where Julie got her chance to practice her Taj Mahal moment 😉

Arriving at our campsite on the shore of Lake Outlet, Wanaka😎

Going for an evening walk along the shoreside to Wanaka town centre. Lonely Planet guide suggested this was – incorrectly – just a 2 km stroll…Mr. Google had other ideas, but it was well worth the extra 8 km!

Kevin McLeod would be salivating at these “Grand Designs”, most of which are holiday homes!

Having checked out more of this lovely location we decided, at c. 9 pm and still 20C, to head back to our campsite with a promise to see more in the morning…

This time though we ordered a lift from Wana-Taxi😉

Friday 12 January 24

Today we were heading to the adrenaline junkies capital of the world that is Queenstown, but not before returning to see more of Wanaka and then visit the iconic Cardrona – and not the one near Peebles😉…and the forecast for the day – which was spot on – was for peak of 29C😎

Along where we took our “promenade” there are a series of c.300 terra cotta tiles, organized chronologically, recording significant events in NZ’s history in the context of other world events – nice touch Wanaka Council👏🏾

Our next stop, for lunch was c.30 mins up the road at Cardrona, described by some as a ski resort on top of an old hotel/pub and a General Store in a village…

Arrowtown – Feels like you’ve stumbled into a movie set..

Tried several campsites which were all fully booked. Finally, we were recommended a remote DoC site 10 km out of town halfway up a mountain!

Saturday 13 January 24

Today we came back down from our mountain retreat and returned to take in more of the bustling, thrill-seeking Queenstown before heading 15 km along to one of the original gold mining towns that is Arrowtown, which also included an original Chinese Settlement of those miners seeking a route out of poverty..

N.B. My apologies, but somehow managed to get the images of these experiences onto the wrong day – all part of the learning process😉

Our final task was an 80 km drive through Central Otago to Alexandra, where Julie befriended one of the locals😉🐈