Saturday - Boundary Creek to Te Anau
The weather was still pretty good as we left the lakeside campsite on what was the start of our third week in New Zealand. The road hugged the rugged banks of the brilliant blue waters of Lake Wanaka then in turn Lake Hawea. The whole area has a feel of total wilderness.
We caught up with civilisation again at Wanaka, a small town, the gateway to the ski slopes & adventure sports. The waterfront was a hive of activity, shops, cafes & coffee shops. Passing through the town we followed the 6 along the steadily climbing Cardrona Valley Road. Deep valleys swept through tussock grass hill sides, few trees, fewer vehicles & directional signs to ski slopes.
We had checked with some of our newly found friends about this route & had been told that travelling from Wanaka to Queenstown was fine however coming the opposite way, as can be seen from the above picture, is a no no, the steep hairpins are not really suitable for motorhomes!
Once clear of the pass & again driving along flat roads, we turned left at the Frankton roundabout, crossing the narrow bridge over the impressive Kawarau River with the amazing Remarkables mountain range in the near distance.
The highway took us along the river valley, alongside these amazing rocky mountains bordering Lake Wakatipu, a huge lake all of 80kms long. Huge.
Lunch stop was at Kingston, a small lakeside settlement at the foot of the lake, & home to a small steam railway, a cafe & motorhome park plus wonderful views.
Leaving Kingston we just had to stop to take a picture of the wheel fence outside this bungalow.
The landscape now change, the mountains were now in the distance, with the slopes being replaced by grassy fields filled with sheep, the first sheep stations we had in fact come across on our travels so far.
We passed through several farming settlements dotted throughout the plains that took us once again across towards the mountains at our overnight stop at Te Anau & the Te Anau Lakeside Kiwi Park on the shores of Lake Te Anau on the borders of Fjord Country.
The site was a large one that offered several forms of accommodation from back-pack to camping. Like all previous sites, wifi was available at a cost. The site was well positioned for the walk into the town.
Taking advantage of the wifi, a quick check was made with Trip Advisor as to which tour company to book with for the boat trip along Milford Sound, [think smaller boat the better] then booked via the on-site tourist information desk.
Supper was taken sat on a bench being stared at by red legged gulls, willing us to feed them with our blue cod & chips whilst we watched not the gulls but a coach load of Japanese busy photographing themselves before they embarked on the ferry across the lake to another glow worm dell.
Today's Mileage = 170 miles
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