June 17, 2017 – Queenstown, Arrowtown, and Wanaka

But first, a word from our sponsor!  No, not really;  just random thoughts that keep me from sleeping because I didn’t write about them!  One – on our trip to Milford Sound we crossed the 45^th parallel, putting us half way between the equator and the South Pole.  Only New Zealand and the tip of South America come this far south.  Second – Before last night’s rugby match, the Samoan team performed something like a cross between a Maori haka and a karate kata!  Third – Justin explained why the trees are trimmed so oddly between pastures and down drives.  It is so they create a windbreak!  Having experienced their winds, I can see why they would be necessary! With the “outside” branches trimmed off, the trees are forced to grow into one another which strengthens the barrier.  Four – the colors on the sheep indicate whether they will have a single lamb, twins, or triplets.  They will be put in separate pastures when they are closer to term.  Five – about Justin:  he was born here in Te Anau and has a wife and seventeen-month old daughter.  He has made over three hundred trips to Milford Sound.  Six – the predominant trees in the forest are beeches and the variety changes are you cross the divide.  The deciduous, gnarly ones are tree fuscias.

A different photo of the Tasmanian Devil

Saw this on the first stop of our trip!

Apparently you can rent these!  We've seen a couple.

There now – on to today!  Neither of us slept well, although, on the plus side, it wasn’t as cold outside when we had to go to the bathroom across the parking lot!  We agree that two cups of coffee before bed last night was a bad choice, and one we won’t make again! We’re up around six thirty and ease into the day.  We’re only driving through Queenstown, since it is mostly a tourist destination and will head to Arrowtown, an old gold-mining site.  We have our oatmeal and coffee, pack the car, and we’re off.

Our cute little cabin in "tea-ah-now"

view from our parking lot

We stop for gas and the lady there pumps our gas!  She tells us that we would be hard pressed to find a Kiwi in Queenstown, confirming our decision to skip it!  She tells us to be sure to stop at the beach;  but not to dip our toes in the water, as there is a wicked rip tipe!  We weren’t likely to do that anyway!!  She also says to stop at the glass-blowing shop in Hokitika;  they ship overseas!

On to Arrowtown, on the Arrow River.  It is an old gold-mining town that was settled by the Chinese during the gold rush.  Our first stop is the Settlers’ Bar and Restaurant for a late lunch. The sign on the door says it’s open and for people to come in and join them by the fireplace! Marilyn has the Belgian meatball in hunter’s sauce and I have ginger-infused chicken burger.  I think I win this round, although the meatball is pretty nice, too.

With our tummies happy we explore the town, stopping first at the remnants of the Chinese settlement.  The men lived in tiny little structures made of wood and tin.  The store/bank/home of Ah Lum, was the heart of the settlement and when he died the last few settlers dispersed, leaving the settlement to rot away.

This was an old police cagin.

This was an outhouse.

Autumn!

There are also lots of shops and art galleries and other eateries.  We finally understand why the possums were imported for their fur.  The New Zealand possums are nothing like ours!  They are fluffy and their fur is wonderful.  It is often combined with Merino wool to make soft and warm clothing.

It’s getting late and we need to head to Wanaka so we can find our motel before dark.  Along State Highway 6 we pass lots and lots of wineries!  Wish it weren’t so late!  But each area of New Zealand has its own special varietals, so we’re bound to find more along the way.  There are also stonefruit orchards, with the trees trimmed like Vs.  Perhaps that makes it easier to harvest the crop??

There are icy road signs which reminds me that Marilyn asked Justin about black ice and he said that if the roads were pink, it would be called pink ice!

Good for us!  We find the Alpine Motel with fifteen minutes to spare before sunset!  We’ve been upgraded and have a large room with a queen and a twin bed and a kitchen with a fridge and a two-burner, flat-top stove and lots of plates and pots and pans and whatever you might need.  But the best part is the ensuite with a heated towel bar and a delicious shower!  The heat pump works quickly and well and we are ever so happy!  Funny the things that become important!!

We have PBJs and chips for dinner with half of our Jacob’s Creek riesling and look forward to a full-night’s sleep!  We’ve started our new loaf of Ploughman’s bread.  It is sunflower and canterbury linseed bread.  Yum!

I’ve just unearthed my pillow from inside my bedspread.  I’ve never seen a bedspread like this!  There is a separate piece of fabric that is joined at the head end of the bed and wraps around the pillow! 

Wow!  Marilyn just looked out at our car and there is a towel on our windshield!  The car next to us has one, too.  We think the motel owners did that for us, to protect us from frost, since they had their hardest frost of the year last night!  How thoughtful!!