We start our day by walking a little way around Lake Te Anau - the largest on South Island and another glacial lake of stunning turquoise blue. There is a sea plane moored on the water and a helicopter parked on the jetty. One of the many offering flights over Mt Cook and the surrounding mountains. Te Anau is home to a rare colony of Takahe a flightless alpine bird and there is a huge statue in the town centre. A new hat is purchased and we set off again towards Queenstown. On the way the girls are bickering again and the pressure of packing stuff in, imparting knowledge, daily drives and another town another bed/backpackers is stifling. We are all tetchy and short tempered!
We reach Queenstown passing the third largest lake in New Zealand, Lake Wakatipu.Because of the mountains which rise hastily from the shore of this glacier lake, Lake Wakatipu has an unusual rhythmic rise and fall in water level, roughly about 12 cm every five minutes.
We all enjoy the Maori version of this story. Manata was the beautiful daughter of a local Maori chief, who would not let marry her beloved Matakauri. One day, Manata was kidnapped by the terrible giant, Matau. Her distraught father promised she would marry whoever could rescue her. Here was Matakauri's chance. Knowing the warm nor-wester would put the giant to sleep, he followed the wind to Matau's lair in the mountains beyond. But he could not cut the cords that trapped her. Magically, the love in Manata's sobs dissolved them and together the pair escaped. After they married, brave Matakauri decided to make the Wakatipu safe from Matau by setting fire to the giant's bed of bracken during the next nor-wester. Fat from Matau's huge body made a fire so intense it burned a hole more than 400 metres deep. Melted snow filled it to create Lake Wakatipu. Legend has it only his heart survived and that its continuring pulse causes the lake to regularly rise and fall.
Queenstown was named because '...it was fit for Queen Victoria.'and is said to be the adrenalin capital of NZ. We head straight to AJ Hacketts - the home of bungy where we spend time watching brave souls throwing themselves off the restored bridge attached to an elastic band.
We continue to Arrowtown, a little settlement founded from the time of the NZ goldrush Although there were attempts to keep the discovery secret, there were 1,500 miners camped down on the Arrow River by the end of 1862. 12,000 ounces (340 kgs) of gold were carried out on the first gold escort in January 1863. Gold eventually became harder to extract and the opening up of the West Coast goldfields in 1865 saw European miners heading for the riches there. This impacted on the Otago economy and in an attempt to restimulate it the Otago Provincial Government invited Chinese miners to come to the Otago goldfields. The Chinese created a separate settlement in Arrowtown, remaining until 1928. We explore the ramshackle Chinese Settlement and the girls draw parallels with the Indians invited to Fiji. Perhaps they are taking in more than we give them credit for!
After the initial gold rush, a more permanent town began to establish itself and it is now a popular tourist destination. Arrowtown itself is filled with historic buildings and really quaint. Many of the buildings in the main street were built during the days of gold mining. Rather than relics, they are in everyday use as offices, cafes and shops. A proactive building policy ensures that the buildings are protected and that the wider township evolves within a set of design rules.
We are here because tonight we will be staying with a family we met while doing" breakfast service" in Christchurch. Joan and Emily welcome us with open arms and it feels amazing to be in a home environment again. We feel truly lucky to receive such hospitality, a home cooked meal and the voice of reason! Joan is an amazing lady and offers us wise words and time out just when we needed it most. THANK YOU SO MUCH! We spend the evening talking, planning and reassessing. The girls play endlessly with Emily and Ollie the dog and enjoy hot chocolate and chocolate biscuits before bed. The stay here gives us a chance to relax and take a breath and the next morning we are all feeling more positive. Sadly we can only afford the time to stay one night here as we still have a long way to go and not enough time.
In Queenstown we ride the SkyLine gondola up Bobs Peak - Reputed to be the steepest lift in the Southern Hemisphere, the gondola carries visitors high above Queenstown and we have an almost 360 view of the town.
We pass more amazing scenery on our next long drive up to Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers .Possibly our longest yet - not good roads - but a real variety - and we experience possibly our least friendly backpackers with the worst kitchen yet. Fortunately we arrive late and plan to leave early.
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