On the Road Again

(written Monday, May 8)

Our last day in Riverton was pretty quiet--the days are feeling quite wintry, with a distinct chill in the air in the mornings and evenings! Nevertheless, the scene outside our cottage gate was still beautiful, and wetsuit-clad surfers continue to brave the icy waters every day.



We took a drive to nearby Gemstone Beach and spent a happy hour among other beachcombers searching for pretty stones to bring home, and marvelling at the steep cliffs of rapidly-eroding sandstone. On the way back to the cottage, we stopped at the Riverton Rocks Point and enjoyed being as close to Stewart Island (NZ's third official island) as we will get this trip (faint island in shot below). Another time, we'd love to spend at least several days on Stewart, which is an amazing predator-free bird sanctuary, but our time and finances just didn't stretch to it this time.

However, we found even more pretty pebbles and shells on this beach--my luggage is getting heavier by the day (no, I'm not bringing the fish home...it has cool colours, though, doesn't it?)!


Goodnight, Riverton!


This morning we woke to a blazing sunrise viewed through definitely frosty windows--brr!--and hastened to pack up and get on the move.


Our drive north began in sunshine, then descended into low-lying cloud, then climbed back up into sunshine.


At the base of Lake Wakitipu, we stopped at Kingston to view the Kingston Flyer, one of the only remaining steam-powered locomotives still running in NZ. I also liked this cool old truck parked nearby.



Speeding past Queenstown from the south this time, we got a different view of the awesome Remarkables mountain range (background for many shots in LOTR: The Two Towers).

Lunch was at Arrowtown (near Queenstown), where many of the old shop facades have been retained from its gold mining heyday in the late 1800', including the shantytown that housed the Chinese cooks. Very picturesque but also very touristy.


Leaving the tourist attractions behind, we continued north and entered the North Otago hills. As we had in January, we really enjoyed the rolling, golden tussock-covered hills which looked to me like giant lions lazing across the horizon. This time, however, the view was punctuated by snow covered peaks!


Near Omarama, we travelled through several kilometeres of roadside decorated by hundreds of small stone towers, obviously built by passersby-we even saw two motorists stop and add their contribution to the collection--why? who knows? Just another bit of Kiwi uniqueness.

Big disappointment in Omarama, though--the gliders are all put away for the winter! We'll have to come back some other trip for Frank to fulfill that ambition.

Leaving the main road halfway between Omarama and Twizel, we drove 30k west to reach our home for the next 3 days, the Weatherall Motel, where we are the only guests in the 5 self-catering units. This is the view out of our front door, over Lake Ohau!

The snow on the peaks opposite looks just like icing sugar dusted on gingerbread. Luckily the unit has a space heater and electric blankets on the bed--I think it's gonna be a mite cold tonight!