Apologies for the radio silence – after Wanaka we didn’t stay anywhere with wifi so there was no blogging! Wanaka and Queenstown were our first – and last – big stops. We had a couple days in each town to unwind before we started the long journey back north… via Milford Sound and the Catlins coast!
The road to Treble Cone ski field
We walked to the top of Mt Iron
For some of the best views in Wanaka
There’s quite a few mountains around here
There’s a few shoe fences in NZ, but I’m pretty sure there’s only one bra fence
Cardrona – Mostly known because of the pub
… this pub, in fact.
The Crown Range Road
The highest main highway in New Zealand
So high, that at the Queenstown end you’re forced to zig zag down
But first, a quick hop to Arrowtown for lunch
The main street of Arrowtown proudly shows its gold-rush era buildings
And then – we went straight through Queenstown and off to Glenorchy
Before checking in at the best bach ever!
Our bach looked out over the Shotover river
We took the gondola up – super steep!
Not sure if they can still be called seagulls when they’re this far inland…
And before we knew it, we were off to Milford Sound!
The last hour or so of the road to Milford is endless sheer cliffs, mist and waterfalls
But so far, the Homer Tunnel takes the cake for unbelievable roading
It’s around 1.2 km long, one lane and very sparsely lit (lights were only installed a few years ago). Built using pickaxes through granite during the Depression – it really is an astonishing thing!
Shortly after the tunnel, we came upon The Chasm. With a name like that, we had to check it out.
It turns out the name described it exactly.
Most of the rivers around here are formed by glacial water (or have a number of waterfalls as tributaries)
Ready for our early morning Milford Sound trip, we camped out at Lake Gunn
