Queensown to Te Anu

You can see from above that we could not leave out any of the photos of the first part of our journey today.  We saw that there was a road alongside the lake Wakatipu on which the town of Queenstown is based. It goes to Glenorchy (many scottish names here).  The views were absolutely amazing and we had to keep stopping to take photos.  The water was so clear that it reflected the mountains. The road ran along the side of the lake for most of the way and had many coves and bays to stop in.  We reached the town of Glenorchy and found out that it was a very important part of the Victorian era here, especially to do with the gold rush which we experienced yesterday going through to Skippers on the dreaded bus ride.  Alas a lot of the town was damaged in 1999 when the area had a flood, but now with government grants it is trying to replace some of the old infrastructure.  A lot of the cafes are very old world and we had a break at the Traders cafe in the town.

We then left to go back along the same road to Queenstown and then went along the other part of the lake which takes you to Kingston at the other end.  This is famous for a steam railway, which although running for tourists is the smallest piece of railway line in the country and really not worth the money to ride on.  We carried on the scenic drive to Te anu.  This took us through the plains between two mountain ranges.  The landscape was totally different, this time with more sheep than cattle and quite a few deer.  Being a plain it was extremely windy, but the roads were very straight and ran on for miles.  We stopped again for a break at a cafe just before Five Miles.  Again this was an old fashioned place, but selling all the crafts made from the village.  It was a bit hippy really, with lots of local potions.

We then travelled through to Te Anu again keeping on the straight plain roads.  We even overtook two cars..amazing.  Turning into Te Anu we realised that we had certainly done the right thing being here for 4 nights.  We just cannot described the area properly without repeating ourselves over and over again.  This is all Lord of the Rings country and every turn has wonderful views.  We walked into town and saw a film about the area taken from a helicopter, we are bringing the dvd home as it encompasses all we have said about the area.  We are going to try and get a few activities in here.  (bang goes the budget, but we are only here once and can't afford not to take in all the area has to offer).  We are in a really good site, although large.  It is very close to the lake and town, but very peaceful.  Here's to another good day tomorrow.