We had planned to get away early this morning but that didn't really happen. Yvonne was sleepy, Glenn hit a particularly good run of tunes on his MP3 player and the view was just too difficult to leave. Anyway we eventually got away and drove the very pretty road to Glenorchy, at the head of Lake Wakatipu, where we stopped for brekkie.
After watching the numerous jetboats perform a few pirouettes on the lake then head off for their high speed journey up the river Dart we had an amble to the end of the old wooden jetty to once more take in the beautiful scenery. At the shore end of the jetty was an old barn type building that upon investigation turned out to be the original depot for the boats that used to be the only way to get people and cargo to the town. It was filled with interesting boards containing explanations of life and old photos from back in the day. As name eludes to, the population was mainly Scottish and the surrounding mountains had a very Scottish feel to them so, with the sandflies, they must have felt quite at home.
The Queenstown/Glenorchy area was used extensively for filming the ‘Lord of the Rings’ films and we frequently crossed path with various groups on tours of the locations. Even our road atlas has the scenes marked as points of interest.
Dragging ourselves away from this pretty little spot we drove a little further to the end of the sealed road then a little further to the end of a gravel road to the head of the Lake Sylvan track, the grockle walk planned for today. With the sun shining and the air now warm we donned t shirts and shorts and set off through the beech forest, which was very different from the dense bush we’ve been used to and much more like an English wood with pretty trees and large open spaces between the trunks. Ambling happily through the trees we eventually arrived at the Lake - a small gem set amongst the trees and the mountains.
After a while ooh’ing and ahh’ing over the views we set off back and on the way met a VERY tame little bird - a tom tit we think - that hopped around Yvonne’s feet, stood between us for a while then proceeded to peck at Glenn’s sandal until it’s beak eventually made contact with flesh and Glenn’s reactive movement scared it away. Remarkable.
Retracing our steps to the van then back along the road we crawled through ever busy Queenstown, re-provisioned and made away the few miles to our nights campsite. Another freedom spot by the side of Lake Hayes, a small lake with a day park that self contained vans can use overnight. Nestled by the side of the lake we dined (on a particularly tasty sweet and sour dish - cheers Yvonne) watching some foolhardy guys take a swim/wash and admiring the view.
 |
| The amazing road to Glenorchy |
 |
| Distant snow capped mountains |
 |
| The old landing depot |
 |
| The river Dart in its summer state |
 |
| Lake Sylvan |
No comments:
Post a Comment