Next stop a geeky LoTR half day scenery tour since so much was filmed here.
We Segway’d from here.
We did the Milford Sound Cruise today which was excellent. It started with a 5 hour (yes five hours!) coach trip with Bob (must make up time) which was supposed to include photo stops and little walks but it seems that Bob was late so we got two stops for 2-3 min toilet breaks (run, drop, flush, run) and a number of “and here is a nice view on the left as I drive past” from our driver. Oh and we got a 20 min coffee stop in a gift shop (anyone want a NZ trinket?)
But the highlight was the cruise itself. Wonderful small boat, the greedy people all opted to dash to the top deck leaving about six of us to spread out across the front and rear bottom deck of the boat. We sailed close to each side of the fjord (its not really a Sound but a Fjord but some welsh bloke incorrectly named it a Sound and they never chamged it) and could almost touch sheer cliffs, seals and two different types of penguin. We went directly under a huge waterfall (need a towel there Mr Fogg or just happy to wring yourself out later?) and hoped to spot dolphins or whales but no luck.
Two hours later and then we are dropped at the teeny airport for our teeny two wing flight back with another couple. Fab Fab Fab. Loads of incredible views, just breathtaking.
Having beaten those who opted for the coach trip back (ha ha 5 long hours to go yet!) we are now back in central Queenstown to sample the local delicacies. We saw the local crayfish pots today in Milford Sound so we just had to do it. Horace the Crayfish just did not stand a chance. Dear Horace, welcome to my plate…….
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But the whole Milford experience after the 5 hour bus journey was cracking. Mrs Fogg will divulge all the juicy gossip.
Made back from Milford Sound to here.
Here’s hoping Milford sound is worth this extra effort.
Let you know in 13 hours when we return.
Wanna go back to bed here.
Mrs Fogg has excelled on the hotel front with the Queenstown Bates Morel, aptly named “Amityville Hotel on the Hill”.
Queenstown from here.
Arrowtown is tiny and geared to tourists but has a nice feel to it. We’ve stopped for lunch at the old Postmasters house which is very quaint, with very English china tea cups and what can only be described as an English cottage garden surrounding the veranda.
Next we plan to amble around and I might even visit the little museum here.
A little bit of history for you. Settled in 1860 this tiny place found one of the richest alluvial gold fields in NZ and sparked an immense gold rush with over 4000 immigrants coming to grab it. It had a china town and plenty of ruffians and baddies to make it a true wild west.
Today there are 2000 inhabitants.
History lesson over..
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Next step walking over burning coals!
Footloose from here.
This was us enjoying a four course meal (we got the munches) in the local restaurant in Wanaka.
Nice evening.
Today we are off to Queenstown.
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Then we visited the Maze. 1.5km of maze with a challenge to get to four coloured towers in each corner of the maze. Apparently the average person will cover 3-5km to achieve this in maybe 1 to 1.5hrs. Challenge accepted off we went. Of course competitive Mr Fogg and I separated determined to beat each other to the challenge.
Unfortunately Mr Fogg somehow managed to beat me in getting to the four towers but like me he cheated to exit the place since we would have been stuck for a few more hours otherwise.
All told a fab afternoon acting like children and running around like five year olds trying to compete in high temperatures and a crazy maze.
Ah so the loser got to take Mr Fogg for a meal in town so we opted for a restaurant looking over the lake. Bliss. Mr Fogg, my lover,best friend and crazy man!!
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