Author: sjp241

Did not stay over in Queenstown – went a little further South to Mossburn, the windiest stop yet.  Nonstop wind all night and all morning.  Great camp stop at the holiday park, felt bad for the tent people!  This was also the first night where instead of sleeping on my comforter with just a sheet cover, I flipped it to sleep on the sheet and cover with the comforter – chilly night.  Again, glad I was in the camper van not a tent.

First a stop at the bra fence though….yep, hundreds of bras left at “Bradona” on the way to Queenstown, and a few dollars donation to breast cancer research.  No bra left from me – but I now realize I should have left the one which Bert chewed my clasp on without me knowing….& Bert is my beagle for those that don’t know. He always has to leave his mark somehow. 

And then the traffic picks up – you can always tell you’re heading to a busy town and Queenstown was no exception.  Parking was hard to find, as well as any place to stay. 

So it is Saturday, sun is shining, but there’s a nice chill in the air – finally!   In a town reminiscent of Durango, Colorado (kinda) it caters to all things tourist.  Great little town area to walk around with shops, taverns, and an outside market on this day.  Local artists selling all their makings – and at a decent price for sure. 

Lots of backpackers here – some singing along the walk to earn some moola.  Start to notice a lot of Asian tourists here too.  Way more so than up north. Notice many of the stores are also Asian owned and many display both English and I assume one of the main Chinese languages. 

Decided to take the town gondola up which overlooks the town – great views, no bungee off of it for me, sorry Joe!  

Coming in to Lake Wanaka is the first pic, the next day is the second pic.  Nice camp spot at the holiday park and nice walk through town last night and this morning. 

Did I mention every town has at least one bakery if not more?!?  That has become my usual breakfast if I am near one, pick up an egg and bacon pie (see pics below) then grab a take away sandwich for later.  The bakeries are the best here, bar none. 

Mmmmmmmm – they are so good and so cheap!  Beats getting the camp supplies out and dealing with dishes afterward for sure.  And they have like 15 different varieties, including sausage rolls which are big everywhere. 

So the rest of the town was cool too – great lakeside bars and restaurants all along the waterfront. I did the waterfront track which went all along the lake, absolutely beautiful. 

Ok – tired of typing on my phone and its bed time for me (9:48 pm) – just some pics now.  Trust me, this is a mere sample of the hundreds of pics I have taken thus far. 

Living near & working in Lake Erie wine country, I’ve seen my fair share of most of them.  The wineries here – unreal.  I drove by miles and miles nonstop vineyards and wineries.  And their vines are so tidy!  I did sample quite a few on the flight over here and a glass or two when I am not driving of course. 

I understand their ‘world class’ status now.  Grapes were still on the vine, so I believe they have a few more weeks to harvest time.  Many vines and fruit trees were covered, I would assume to keep the birds away.  Pictures were taken at Marlborough Wineries.  I was there before they opened actually. 

Ok – it’s one thing to hear 70s and 80s tunes occasionally….but here – everywhere you go, every bus, store, anywhere – its classic easy listening or rock hits. I swear they pipe it into everything which explains why everyone is so laid back.   And it’s great to hear and drive along to.  I have not heard one recent song, no country, and not much else.  A lot of Christian radio stations too.  My pandora works but the service is so spotty driving, not worth it going in and out.

So I started to listen to my audio books – and of course I start with Bruce’s autobiography, which New York Susan said I had to listen to. So I am – it’s his voice and it really does add that extra touch.  It got me thru a day of driving in the rain for sure. 

Speaking of driving….yes, NZ roads are a treat.  Most of you know that I enjoy driving.  Most of you know I lived/drove in Colorado for a few years on mountain roads.  I believe all of that plus Pittsburgh curvey roads have trained me specifically for this trip. 

If they could add a hairpin turn, why not 3 back to back for 15 kilometers, and lets have semi’s and tour buses come straight at ya – yes, you have to pay attention all the time. Five hours is about max – and that is with lots of breaks in between. 

I’d say the upper portion of the South Island was the most brutal as there was also a ton of road construction and traffic due to a road closure caused by wildfires.  The west coast was equally all that – and add the rain all day long.  So I know I missed some amazing mountains & views along that route,  everything was clouded in.   Still got amazing pictures. 

Rotorua is a hot springs area with some amazing colored springs, so toured around there till the thunderstorms tried to come in.  They really just passed over so I headed further south to Lake Taupo, a huge lake that really takes your breath away.  Warm clear water, with mountains all around.  Great camp site in a field next to it.  

Between the cave adventure and hiking Rotorua and a brief walk by the lake, I was out by 9pm. 

Driving thus far – truly south of Auckland it looks just like Pennsylvania – the rural parts kinda north of Pittsburgh, hilly with lots of farms. 

Not only am I not liking the heat, the locals feel the same way – they all state they should have had this weather 2 months ago, not now!  I concur..as my sun poison did show up:(  

Everything is bone dry too, especially here on the South Island. Rivers, streams are really stone beds, and all the farmers have sprinklers going.   Yes, they are sprinklers not irrigation lines!!! I have to stop and get a picture – at first I thought they had them out for the cows….then I saw them in the fields as well 🙂 

Cows and sheep – lots and lots grazing and also in ‘special delivery’ trucks…Kiwis like their beef and mutton. 

Driving the rest of the North Island, reminded me of both Colorado and New Mexico scenery – quite the variety.  So far on the South Island – it’s all just like Colorado, especially the Durango area.  And so far I have seen 2 herds of the red stag deer, at least that’s what they looked like to me!!  

Well phone’s gonna die and my Benadryl is kicking in – sleep well my friends!  PJS out –

So my glow worm ‘adventure’ started at 8:30am. I had my tea and toast at the campsite, figured I’d be good to go. So this was not a normal tour by any means…& I had read that from reviews, kinda why I chose it as the other cave tours get pretty crowded. 

So it’s me and 5 other 20-somethings, two girls from England, 1 backpacker from Amsterdam, and a couple from China.  Cali was our guide.  So this adventure begins by changing out of our clothes and into their supplied duds.  (Can’t wait till google photos catches up!!).  Geared up, we hike out their back door.  

This property has been in the same family for a few generations, they only started doing private tours last year. We get down to the cave entrance and Cali starts walking us in a nice flowing creek. 

From there on, there was very little walking and all climbing, twisting, contorting thru and over boulders and the like.  We all had a blast! One of the English girls was getting a little claustrophobic but she persevered.  So it’s a big ol cave with all the usual cool things plus one more – glow worms!!! 

No pictures of them – we all tried but Cali stated it would not take and she was right!  So we get in two different cave areas, turn out all of our headlamps & pitch black darkness except for these little worms glowing all over the ceiling!!  It was too cool.  And we saw an eel – came right up to us!

So about noontime when we emerged back above, I was dying of thirst and hunger, then headed to Rotorua. 

No I am not missing the Erie hot dog stand-that happens to be the name of my home the past 4 days – a Toyota minivan with over 440,000 miles on him.  That’s the actual rental name too.  So far so good. Pics will have to wait till later as my google photos is trying to catch up with me over the past 4 days with little wifi or service. 

After I picked Louie up, driving out of Auckland wasn’t bad at all – so far I’ve always been on the left , and many roundabouts have been conquered. Drivers here are so patient, polite, and just nice!  Not one horn or middle finger!! 

First campsite was near my glow worm cave adventure, pictures on that later too!

Being that you are stowed in my backpack….cause when I packed my lunch in and out on Tiri Tiri yesterday, my tuna in oil leaked all over my backpack and contents.  Making me pretty nauseous right now as it is all I can smell.