Queenstown
11 February 2019
We had a long drive from Franz Joseph to Arrowtown which is a small town about half an hour outside of Queenstown. It is the site of one of the original Chinese settlements. This was the first day we had rain but luckily it was only when we were driving. However, the road was very windy with lots of switchbacks as we were travelling through the mountains. In some spots the mountains come directly down to the road on both sides and you feel you can put your hand out of either side of the van and touch them. Doesn’t seem to matter where you are driving you have a fabulous view. The pictures don’t really capture the real beauty and it’s hard to take pictures out of the van windows with all the bugs!!
Arrowtown is a small town and the main street is about 2 blocks long. Once we set up camp, we took a walk along main street. Unfortunately, the streets had rolled up so we decided to come back in the morning. We did some laundry, had showers, cooked dinner and played some dominoes before climbing into bed. The next morning we headed into town and took a walk along main street and visited the old Chinese settlement. Arrowtown reminds me of Ladysmith, the little town that could as they have carved out a tourist niche with bike trails along the river, a cute town with some good restaurants, some motels and a holiday camping park. Really enjoyed the vibe here.
We then drove towards Queenstown. Queenstown is mostly located along a lake with houses built on both sides of the road as you drive in. The downtown is mostly a tourist destination with shops and lots of bar and restaurants along the waterfront. The main shopping area is located just outside of town which is where we stopped first. Ric and Sherry tried to pick up their AA card but it was closed as it was a holiday – who knew?? We got some groceries and drove into town. There was no parking to be found anywhere so we thought it best to head to Lake Moke early and try back in Queenstown the next day. The drive to Lake Moke was mostly paved with gravel for the last couple of miles. The campsite was right on the lake out in the middle of no where and there were lots of people there. It was windy so we tucked ourselves into the trees which gave us a pretty good buffer. We took a hike along the river but my camera was dead so sorry no pictures. It was cold in the morning so we were bundled up and had coffee inside our van to keep warm. The weather fluctuates from very cold in the mornings to very intense by the afternoons. Definitely have to wear layers.
We wanted to drive into Queenstown but were told parking was a nightmare so we drive outside of the city itself to the shopping centre. We parked our van and took the bus into town. We stopped at Fergburger for lunch which is a New Zealand must do. I do have to say the burgers were good but we had to wait about an hour to get them and the line up never ended the whole time we were in town!! We walked up to the gondola and made our way up the mountain. Ric and Pat decided to try the Luge which is a toboggan made for a cement track. They had fun and got two runs in. We then went back into town and walked along the waterfront. We stopped for a cloudy apple cider on the waterfront and then walked back to the bus stop. Once we got back to the vans, we drove back to Arrowtown as the Holiday Park is cheaper than the ones in Queenstown and probably much quieter. We also new they had good showers with lots of hot water.
