mrsjono

I started hitching along Adamson Drive, sticking out my sign as I walked for about 10-15 mins before I got my first ride. Bernice is going to Wanaka to pick up some driftwood for next winter. She went via Cromwell and stopped along the way to drop some coins into an honesty box. She told me she had bought something the other day and didn't have money to pay for what she had bought so she came by specially to pay. Bernice has a Korean daughter-in-law and doesn't really like Korean food. She dropped me right at the start of Mount Iron track and offered to give me a ride back to Arrowtown in the afternoon around 3pm. She sounded worried about me and asked if I had a sun hat as it was very hot. I wanted to hang around Wanaka for awhile so I politely rejected her kind offer and thanked her for the ride. 

I crossed into private land to get an unobstructed view of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. It was absolutely stunning; so beautiful and comfortable in this pleasant weather that I hanged around for 2 hours at the top.






Made my way down, checked out the DOC visitor centre and grabbed a map from the i-site. Figured there was still enough time to go for another walk and decided on the easy Eely Point track along the lake.

Another bike trip from Arrowtown to Gibbston Valley covering at least 34km for over 4 hours. A longer but easier ride than my previous one to Lake Hayes. This was along Centennial Ave getting ready to leave Arrowtown and approaching the start of 100km/h zone. 

I was getting bored of the same old scenery of lakes and melting snow mountains in Queenstown so it was a good change of views to river, valleys, bridges and vineyards.

Peregrine Wines is owned by the McLachlan family. The design of the building's roof was inspired by the native falcon (karearea). This was the furthest I went and I decided it was time to make my way back.

Met up with HT in town with nothing planned in advance. Checked out the crafts market first but there wasn't much to see. Collected her skydive photos then had a look around the Queenstown Gardens which is the other peninsula you see from Bob's Peak looking down. Did another easy walk along Frankton Arm Walkway together and watched someone practising paragliding off a hill. Took the bus to New World for some grocery shopping then went back to have dinner in her hotel room and we sneaked into the staff kitchen to heat up the rice I had prepared beforehand.

The Skyline Road (or sometimes known as Skyline Access Road) is an alternative route up to Bob's Peak without having to pay ($35 one way) for the gondola ride. There's a web of walking and mountain bike trails that link up to the Skyline Road throughout the forest. On my first visit to Queenstown, I tried the Tiki Trail which starts at the gondola base building near Brecon St. The last 600m follows the Skyline Road towards the top of the gondola. 

I kept going until I couldn't go any further as the track appeared to be closed due to snow...



















This is by far my favourite photo of us in our many years of friendship :)

The owners of Poplar Lodge also has a bike hire business in town and they charge $38 for half a day. Staff get to borrow a bike for free! Quite good benefit leh hehe. Adin chose a bike for me, passed me a helmet and a map. It's 7-8 km to Lake Hayes, 8km around the lake and another 7-8 km back to Arrowtown. The track along the lake is mostly flat and easy to ride on but the ride back was so hard due to a bloody sharp uphill.