Miles of smiles???
23 January 2020 | Queenstown, NZ
Maggie
Travel is what I love.
It's full of surprises,
the unexpected.
Usually wonderful.
Sometimes not so much.
Today was no different!!
The untamed west coast road ends in remote Jackson Bay.
The drive was gorgeous.
The lunch, served in a bright orange railway cart overlooking the ocean, was a delight.
In Haast we were able to find a heli service with good ideas for a fishing trip on the river.
The Haast Pass to Wanaka is spectacular to say the least, every corner begging to be photographed, the road mostly too twisty and narrow to oblige!
Nev napped as I drove thro Wanaka and I made the call to let him sleep; there'd be gas in the next town I thought.
Ian had suggested we take the backroad pass into Queenstown and stop at the pub in Cardrona.
So we did.
Our gas tank was showing low but we drove up the steep mountain road, around hairpin bends, wondering where this pub was, marveling at Ian’s adventurous spirit!!
Wrong road...
it went to the Cardrona Ski Lift up in the sky!!
My mistake.
The drive back down was quiet,
and too steep to freewheel.
The beer and glass of wine at the pub didn't taste so good!!!
For the 30 minute drive back to Wanaka we freewheeled as much as possible, trickling in on the smell of an oil rag...
it’s the most fuel we've ever put into JURNEE!!!
Talk about relief.
We drove into Queenstown around 6pm, smiling, and excited to have completed our circumnavigation of the South Island.
Ayayayayay!!!