Less Haast, more speed!!

We arrived at Haast, having stopped off for a few walks to admire several waterfalls on the way - and most of them were in full flow because of the rain!!!

Haast is rather a one horse town, but gave Bob a welcome break from the driving in driving rain!!! We did manage a walk on the beach between showers and then relaxed and did some reading and watched a video.

We were then up early the next day for our journey on to Wanaka. A beautiful town at the southern end of Lake Wanaka. The journey down started in the wet and fog, but thankfully we arrived to find sunshine. We wandered round the town and a small craft market before a visit to Puzzling World where there were several interesting puzzles and optical illusions, as well as a maze. We drove out to a few lookouts around the Lake to at last get a few pictures of the mountain tops!!!

We have now travelled on to Queenstown, an area renowned for the extreme sports and adventures that New Zealand is famous for. I got Bob to pull in as we passed the Kawarau River Bridge to watch the bungy jumping!!! Bob was actually tempted to have a go, but in the end decided the rope may not be up to the job!!!

Queenstown itself is very picturesque with two rivers, the Shotover and Kawarau meandering into Lake Wakatipu on which it is situated. It is surrounded by mountains, in particular "The Remarkables" which are what they say!! The sun has been shining for most of our time here, which has enabled us to get out and about a bit more.

We firstly went up to the top of Deer Park Heights to get some magnificent 360 degree views around Queenstown, and also to enjoy the delights of a whole host of animals roaming wild in the area. These included Highland Cattle, Bison, Llamas, Goats, Deer and Sheep, some of which we (or rather Bob) were able to hand feed. This was also the location for the filming of parts of Lord of the Rings and other films.

Today it has been wall to wall blue sky so we have taken time out to walk around the Queenstown Gardens along the lake side and sat and sunbathed near the marina, with Bob itching to have a go on the NZL14 a yacht which took part in the Americas Cup and which now offers trips around the lake for those with sea legs! Unfortunately this was not possible due to lack of numbers and he didn't fancy a solo trip, even across a smooth lake!!!

We then headed to the hills for a trip skywards on the Queenstown Gondola which again offered some amazing views of the surrounding countryside and for a bit of excitement had a go on the luge track which runs around the top edge of the mountain!!!