QT. Am. Cloud - not sunny. Walked along lake. Coffee and brownie then brunch in cafe - OK. Drove to Glenorchy at head of lake - lovely view of snowy mnts. Nothing at Glenorchy - will develop. Beer at lake in evening.
As regards our accommodation, I've just re-discovered my FB. post about it, it contained a couple of interior shots as well as the delights of the wheelie bin patio. What made matters worse is that we had booked here for three nights. More generally, in every place we chose to linger for a few days something had went awry: Coromandel - rained cats and dogs; Kaiteriteri - cyclone Gita; here - Hotel Bunker. Perhaps the gloom is getting to me, I guess our days in Rotorua weren't all wet, Wellington too - it was pleasant......
One upside to the cruddy accommodation was it encouraged us to get out and about. For once it almost managed to stay dry for three days in a row and for longish spells it was actually warm and sunny.
Queenstown was the first place we had come across in New Zealand that had developed into a tourism hot-spot on a truly global scale. The town centre was heaving. Bright young things predominated, a mix of backpackers from Europe and the USA, hipsters, sporty types and hikers, a small but highly visible tribe of crusties being mindful on the lawns beside the lakefront. One girl had set-up a series of tightropes attached to the trees. She performed aerial acrobatics barefoot, her paisley Indian print yoga pants flapping in the breeze as sh cartwheeled in slow motion along the wire. In the middle of the pedestrianised main street a young man resembling the lead sing of an Antipodean Led Zeppelin tribute band was busking on an hippyfied upright piano. His style was hardly rock and roll, he played pieces by Ravel, Chopin and Debussy with skill and sensitivity - Radio Three standard on a beat-up instrument decorated with psychedelic flowers. The street music was eclectic, the most annoying had to be the young Scotsman playing 'the pipes' in full regalia.
Reflecting the place's essentially young vibe, the most celebrated eatery in Queenstown is a burger joint - Fergburger. Tripadvisor has ensured that there is a long queue outside of it from the moment it opens. We found another place for brunch nearer the lakefront. It was nothing special but offered appetising pub grub. We ended up chatting to our 'server'. She was from Munich halfway through a yearlong working holiday. Queenstown is very international, not just full of the 'West's' youth, there were many older tourists from all over South East Asia, China and Japan. At first I was confused when I overhead lots of conversations in Spanish. Then it dawned on me, the entire southeastern edge of the Pacific rim, from Tijuana to Cape Horn speaks Spanish.
However, Queenstown is more than a backpacker boom town. Its celebrated lakeside gardens were established in 1876, the town has a long history as a resort stretching back to the Victorian era, You sense Queenstown's more sedate past when TSS Earnshaw steams past, it has operated continuously since 1912.
We had promised ourselves a civilised coffee and cakes in the park's Edwardian style pavillion. Whenever we passed it never seemed to have a spare table. The park next to the town's 'day beach' was always busy and hazardous given the popularity of Segway tours. however the paths beyond there were quiet, overlooking Lake Wakatipu's 'Frankton Arm' with a view of 'The Remarkables' across the water.
However the paths beyond the tea rooms were quiet, overlooking Lake Wakatipu's 'Frankton Arm' with a view of 'The Remarkables' across the water. The same was true of the western end of the esplanade. Once you had walked past the piers selling lake trips ranging from the sedate steamship to high speed jet-boats, we more or less had the paths to ourselves.
As well as the walk beside the lake other paths headed uphill through the woods, towards the Queenstown Skyline upper station and beyond there to the lower slopes of the Ben Lomond nature reserve. Again it was uncrowded. Perhaps the area was just a little too far for a stroll but not challenging enough to constitute a hike. Whatever the reason our only companions were beautiful trees and spectacular fungi.
By mid-afternoon it had clouded over and the chilly breeze blowing down the lake discouraged relaxing by the shore. We decided to drive to the head of the lake at Glenorchy. It is a tiny settlement but well known as the starting point of some of the Southern Alps more challenging hikes such as the Routeburn Track.
More recently the mountains to the west have become famous as locations for Isengard and Lothlorien in the Lord of the Rings films. It is easy to see how the wild beauty of the area lent itself to the evocation of Middle Earth.
The asphalt runs out here, with a 4x4 you can drive a few miles further, then it's wilderness. In fact our next destination, Milford Sound, is only 30 miles west of here as the crow flies; because of the mountainous terrain we will have to make a 200 mile detour through Te Anau to reach the embarkation point for our Fjordland overnight cruise booked for the day after tomorrow.
