first stop out of queenstown was arrowtown, who's claim to fame was that it was an old mining town and still has some original buildings. aka tourist trap, walked the 5 mins down the main strip, poked into a few stores all with western themes. then made our way to the other must-see, the chinese settlement, which was mostly a re-creation.
back on the road, i liked our next stop best. perfectly timed for a lunch break (though by chance), we came up on gibbston valley winery, which not only had an ample wine taster for $5, but a very good cheese platter. so we gorged ourselves on wines, mainly pinot noir as that is the predominate wine in the area, and gouda, cheddar, feta & brie, with yummy plum spreads, hummus, olives, bread and various crackers. ended up getting a bit tipsy (thanks to being a lightweight) though i must say steph was driving and isn't the biggest wino, so theresa & i helped to finish her wine. couldn't let it go to waste, can we?
ended up buying a bottle of pinot noir to bring home, as well as some of the plum sauce and an onion marmalade. then unfortunately tried a ginger chocolate for dessert, though it was more like fire in my mouth. i really thought i would cry. thank goodness i only took a small nibble. theresa's palate was more inclined to the spicy factor, so gave her the rest of mine. ugh. thank goodness also for listerine tongue strips, which helped ease some of the pain.
stopped at another smaller winery up the road, called aurum wines, and the lady there was so nice and took the time to explain everything to us. i actually liked their pinot noir better, so i bought another bottle - and decided i would donate the gibbston valley to the woman who we would be staying with in westport for the marathon.
arrived at wanaka next, our destination for the night. checked into our purple cow hostel and then wandered around the town. it was so windy! we braved what we could, but eventually gave up and returned home to cook our meal. headed out again after to find a cafe, which were all closed (a recurring problem in nz, things all close early or are open "til late", whatever that means). so made our way to the cinema earlier than our actual movie time, and hung out there for a couple hours drinking the most fabulous iced chocolate i've ever had and reading our books. wanaka cinema is a proper tourist attraction, complete with old 70s couches and knick knacks that can only be described in photos. saw 'burn after reading', which theresa & i had already seen, but got a few laughs, and steph thoroughly enjoyed it. that night got our first glimpse of the southern cross, as the clouds finally cleared enough to see some stars, and we were far enough away from any light pollution.
peaced out of wanaka and headed north the next a.m. towards rainforests and glaciers. the scenery of this land continues to amaze me daily. AND it was actually warm enough to wear our short shorts! yay for a change from cool weather clothing! this was not to last, however. we had the unfortunate problem of also being in the land of sandflies, which are the most evil creatures in this country. my feet now look diseased, it's gross. and the bites itch uncontrollably. worse than any mosquito bite i've ever had. so, at the first rest stop we came to, we had to change back into pants to give us some protection from the ankle biters.
stops this leg included fantail falls, thunder falls, a ghost town (practically) of jackson bay where we ate lunch on a pier and looked at the tasman sea, hapuka estuary, ship creek, knight's point & lake moeraki with a walk to monro beach. each of these stops was blissfully beautiful and peaceful, except for the fact they were all marred by sandflies. seriously? you couldn't enjoy the scenery at all with those things crawling and flying and biting you every 30secs. grrr.
the drive and walk around fox glacier was much better, as there weren't any sandflies to deal with. the glacier was so impressive, and it was interesting to see the markers of where it had been in 1750 and then in 1935. it had retreated a lot! trampled along the trail of stones to get as close as we could without being on a guided tour. though we did get stuck behind one tour of older folks, humorously all with number hiking boots - a bit like bowling shoes at home. i can't imagine renting hiking boots since i'd like them to be molded specifically to my feet. but it made for a sight, which we got on video thanks to theresa's fantastic subtlety skills. the best was when they - in full on hiking gear, boots, and walking sticks, marvelled at how the young folk were managing in flip flops (or thongs, as they call them here). gave us a chuckle, for sure.
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