Across the Crown Range to Queenstown

Gill's notes:

Am. sun & cloud. Packed then drove up the Cardrona road to the Cardrona hotel. Fantastic views. Steep down to QT. Stopped at Hackets Bungee Jump on old bridge across gorge. Bought presents. 
Pm. Blue skies & lake. 22 degrees - lovely, walked pm. Room - basement bunker.

There are two roads from Wanaka to Queenstown, our old friend highway 6 follows the valley of the Clutha, and another more minor road crosses the Crown Range. We chose the latter road because our elder daughter, Sarah recommended having lunch at the Cardrona Hotel. Its simple facade is reputed to be the most photographed building in New Zealand. I cannot vouch for that but it certainly was very busy, particularly with bikers. The wait for lunch was too long, however, we made a significant contribution to its reputation as the most photographed edifice, then drove on.

On the far side of the range the road squiggles steeply downwards into the Clutha Valley in a series of hairpins to rejoin highway 6. It's spectacular 'big country'. Ultimately we were heading for Queenstown 10 miles west along the main road, but we took a detour eastwards to visit the Karawau Gorge.

If the view from the suspension bridge looks vaguely familiar it probably because it is recognisable as the setting of the 'pillars of the king' scene in the 'Fellowship of the Ring' film, all that is missing now are the enormous statues, which I presume were never there anyway and edited in later using CGI.

These days Tolkien aficionados are vastly outnumbered by adrenaline junkies. The  AJ Hackett Kawarau Bungy Centre was the worlds first commercial bungy jumping place and is regarded as a kind of Mecca for enthusiasts from all over the world.

 In fact would-be leapers came in all shapes, sizes, nationalities and ages - clearly a must-do bucket list item for all kinds of people. Not us, however, we discovered we were enthusiastic members of a different group who had inadvertently discovered that as a spectator sport bungy jumping was curiously absorbing.

We had lunch in the place's café, the paninis were unexpectedly good, but then I suppose they would have to be, at least half the people eating there are probably harbouring a secret fear that this meal might be their last, while the others are giving thanks that it wasn't. Who would want to celebrate surviving a dice with death with a soggy toasted sandwich? The centre had a small shop too. We bought a few presents for the kids - baseball caps and tee shirts and so on.

It was mid-afternoon by the time we got to Queenstown. By now this morning's wispy clouds had dissipated, under a clear blue sky the lake looked lovely and the temperature reached 22 degrees. It was scarcely believable that  yesterday was sleety.

Queenstown proved to be lovely, our accommodation less so. In my quest to control the overall cost of the trip, when we booked things occasionally I became over zealous. The hotel website boasted of lake and garden views from every room but one. It was $15 cheaper so I booked that one.

 It had all the charm of a nuclear bunker, opened directly onto the underground parking. Its 'patio area' consisted of  a small round table and two chairs situated next to a row of wheelie bins. Still, we dined al fresco despite of it all!