Coddiwomple Stardate 171202

Hello from Queenstown and defiantly the tourist mecca for New Zealand. This area is a very stunning  town and I can see why everyone is tripping over each other as it is just jammed pack with people and we haven't reached the top tourist month yet which is January. So Sharon & I had to be a typical tourist and caught the Doppelmayr Gondola to Bobs Peak rising 450m for breathtaking views over Lake Wakatipu. We also decided to do 6 luge runs while up there. We both had a fanastic time with perfect views of the lake and mountains as we zoomed down the track getting airborn and up on two wheels with the smell of burning rubber from the abused brakes and smiles all around.

Wednesday morning was a bit sad had to say goodbye to my drinking buddy Kevin & his daughter Kaitlin from Vancouver. Also our driver Nat who is heading North again as we head for the deep south. We decided to go to Arrowtown for the day after a lot of people saying how wonderful it was there. Thanks to our driver Nat for advising us we could catch the local bus out there. A day trip to Arrowtown is $45 each we payed $10 each return on the local Richie's bus service which also has free WiFi. My advice to people staying longer in Queenstown is to buy there GoCard for $5. Then any trip around Queenstown district is only $2. It is being subsidised by car parking fees.

The drive out to Arrowtown was once again breathtaking and the town was disappointing. The historical buildings are grand but the main street is just packed with parked cars and campervans travelling down the street. If they blocked off the street to traffic and turned it into pedestrian friendly area it would be absolutely fantastic. We decided to walk further out of the main area and then back along the Arrow River to the Chinese Village which has been replicated to look like the 1860's when gold was discovered here by William Fox in 1862.

After our return back to Queenstown I decided to take advantage of there public drinking policy and spent a relaxing time drinking my beer overlooking Lake Wakatipu.

Wednesday afternoon we were reunited with a few people from that days Stray bus. Thursday, we were saying goodbye again to some of them and may catch up with them again. So, on the Stray bus again with a new driver called Leftie and two trainees. Today’s drive took us from Queenstown to Milford Sound and then on to Gunn’s Camp for the night. On the way we stopped at a few kodak moments and drove through some very tight bends on the edge of lakes and forest. Its times like this I really appreciate not driving ourselves. As we approached Milford Sound we were once again blessed with perfect weather. It is supposed to rain on average 300 times a year. Last year saw a rain fall of 10m it usually averages from 7 – 8m.

There was water running down the 1000m plus mountains, reflections of lakes, snow at eye level and a drive through Hommer Tunnel. This tunnel was hand dug in the depression years starting in 1935 with only 5 people to start with. After avalanches and other set backs eventually opened in 1953. It has a length of 1270m and an elevation of 945m. Once through it was downhill to Milford Sound and more cascading water. The road finishes at Milford Sound and you must drive a couple of hours back out again. Once at the end of the road you have no choice but to catch a boat to view this amazing water and landscape of Milford Sound which is 15km long and ends at the Tasman Sea. The sheer rock faces rise to 1200m the highest being 1517m. On our tour we saw Penguins & Seals and more waterfalls. We also saw a few Kea birds which are protected but I'm sure a lot of people would love to kill them. If you park your car for to long they love to peck at all the rubber parts of cars slowly destroying them.

Gunn’s Camp was a public works camp built in 1938. It was bought by Davey Gunn in 1951 and started his tourism venture there. He would take people out on 10-day hikes. They even had visitor books in the museum dating back that far. I checked on my day of birth they had 12 visitors that day in 1962. Sharon and I had a nice little cottage to stay in by ourselves. Power is off by 10.00pm that’s when the generator is turned off. So, it was a very peaceful night.

Friday, we were back on the bus heading for Stewart Island.  We had to head back to Te Anau which we drove through the previous day and head down to Tuatapere and across to Invercargill before heading to Bluff where our ferry left from. Not far out of Te Anau the landscape becomes quite flat and open plains. The whole day from 8.30am to 4.30pm was mainly driving. Our ferry left at 5.15pm and arrived Stewart Island at 6.15pm. I had a very green wife when we arrived even though the crossing was classed as smooth. Once we arrived walked to our camp site pitched the tent in high winds and settled for the night.

We are staying in Oban (capital of Stewart Island population of  402) until the 5^th Dec but may stay longer. I was expecting rain and cold weather being close to Antarctica but now we have blue skies and 22 degrees.