Day Five ... Dunedin to Queenstown

Today we said goodbye to the east coast as we headed inland towards Queenstown. Once again we were up early, checked out, in the car and on our way well before 8.00 am. We headed out of Dunedin towards a suburb called Mosgiel where a newly placed Ad Lab was calling our name. 

The Ad Lab was called Tour de Lilliput and was 5 gorgeous little street libraries located throughout the suburb. Each free library had been decorated by the owners who were called the Guardians. Each one was a different theme ... farm, holiday, Hairy McLary, dogs and smiley faces. A ripper little Ad Lab which really taught us nothing but gave our library loving hearts joy.

Our next destination was the township of Lawrence whose population is just over 450. It is a township steeped in gold rush history and we enjoyed wandering the streets (okay ... two streets - that’s about it) using an Ad Lab to learn about the various buildings and the ebb and flow of population (at one time when the gold rush started there were over 11,000 living there).

Driving on we stopped to marvel at the massive rocky outcrops, tall and imposing rock formations which just seemed to be everywhere along the gorge. The only use for the land here is sheep farming as they are the only things that can navigate the treacherous terrain.

We stopped to look at the old suspension bridge in Alexandra, with the newer bridge right beside it. We also giggled at the rather bizarre clock mounted on the side of the ridge line overlooking the town, a bit like the Hollywood sign but a working clock.

Our next stop was the viewing point overlooking Clyde dam. The dam was constructed in the 1980s and is the third largest hydroelectric dam in NZ. The dam’s construction resulted in the township of Cromwell (which was our next stop) having to be moved to higher ground and over 2000 hectares of farming land being flooded.

At Cromwell we completed an Ad Lab that took us to some of the historic areas that were moved as a result of the Clyde Dam. The War Memorial and the historic village that had all the original shops which had been deconstructed and rebuilt on higher ground. The cemetery was also one of the stops and despite disrepair had a beautiful plaque installed by the Lions Club commemorating everyone buried there regardless of whether they had a marked grave or not.

Lunch at Cromwell at a lovely park watching lots of families stopping for a picnic and for the children to play and marvel at the massive fruit! Then onwards we travelled. We stopped to look at Roaring Meg, a waterfall created as a result of the hydroelectric scheme. She was a beauty and despite the rain I happily snapped a few photos as we listened to her roar. The water was an incredible blue as it hit the river.

Our last stop before reaching Queenstown was at the Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge, the site of the first commercial bungy jump location in the world. Whilst we didn't bungy we watched others take the leap of faith from the bridge to swing and dangle above the Kawarau River. A.J Hackett was one crazy dude when he decided to create a bungy cord and jump off the Auckland bridge. He went on to leap off the Eiffel Tower (I imagine that may have got him into trouble). I'd say he is a very rich man today given how many take the plunge everyday off one of his sites.

The gorge is stunning, the river winds its way through, the water is blue and flowing wildly. Our drive hugged the rivers that flow along the gorge base. The scenery is incredible, at times you think "oh I could be in Australia" and then boom ... you know you are most definitely not!

And so on to Queenstown where we said goodbye to our lovely little hire car. We checked into our hotel and had a short wander through town. Time for some washing and to repack our bags in preparation for our 7 day hike which begins tomorrow morning. Also time to enjoy the stunning view from our chalet room which overlooks Lake Wakitipu.

 

We wandered down to the lake shore to find some dinner and settled on some fish and chips. Originally we thought we would sit by the lake to eat but the wind was a bit strong so whilst they cooked our order we watched the boats on the lake, listened to the bagpipers playing at the war memorial arch and watched all the ‘cool, hip, young things’ sitting in the bars drinking cocktails. We ate our fish and chips in a small sheltered park next to a lovely babbling stream before heading back to our room.

We are now packed and ready to go. 7 days hiking in the south is what we are looking forward to. Keep your fingers crossed Ian’s ankle holds up!

Today’s tally …

Photos … 320

Steps walked …. 13,729

Kms walked …10.51 km

Ad labs completed … 3.5