Queenstown

Beautiful tree. We asked some people what kind of tree it was and they replied "yellow flowering tree". Still don't know the name yet.

Before leaving Wanaka, we stopped at Stuart Lansborough's Puzzling World where we experienced numerous illusions and attempted to go thru a maze (we gave up after about 40 minutes). Then a drive out into the countryside brought us to Christofer Robyn Quilts where Cathy took photos of the quilts and bought some unique New Zealand fabric for future projects. Then we had a ‘fun’ trip over the Crown Range Mountains on a road that does not permit any towed vehicles and has numerous tight switchbacks. After surviving this we headed to a beautiful gorge to watch people bungy jumping into the river below. We did enjoy watching people jump, but decided it was not for us.

Queenstown has been our home for the last 2 days. This is definitely a tourist town and is the adventure capital of New Zealand with bungy jumping, parasailing from the top of the hill next to town, jet boating rides, mountain biking, and skiing in winter. The town is named for being located in such a beautiful setting next to Lake Wakaipu that it was “fit for Queen Victoria”.

Fortunately, our holiday park is was within walking distance of downtown and the first night we enjoyed some Mexican food (not quite like Tex-Mex but still good). Deciding not to try some of the more extreme activities, we enjoyed a more sedate ride across the lake on the TSS Earnslaw - a 1912 steamer which is still powered by the original coal fired steam engine. It took us back in time as we listened to piano music from an earlier era and watched them shoveling coal into the fire. After reaching the other shore we visited a farm where we fed the sheep, watched one being sheared, and then watched a sheep dog demonstration. After a BBQ lunch (including, of course, lamb chops) it was time to ride back on the steamer to town and some time to rest.

Accessing the Internet has been easier than we had envisioned. Many of the holiday parks now have WiFi, but with so many different providers it is sometimes a chore to get online and figure out what is the best plan to pay for. The cost varies from free (only 1 place so far), up to $6 NZD per hour or $20 NZD per day [NZD is New Zealand Dollars – where $10.00 NZD is now equivalent to about $5.40 US]. Also having Internet access allows us to use Skype to place unlimited phone calls to most places all over the world for only $9.95/month using our computer as a speaker phone. This has really been a blessing to talk to our loved ones and friends, as well as conduct business, without worrying about costs or time limits. However, we do have to remember the difference in time zones (we are 18 hours ahead of Central Time Zone).

Jan "holding up" leaning buidling at the puzzle place

Cathy feeding sheep

Sheep getting sheared by Duncan (our guide on the farm)

River gorge. Photo taken from bridge from which the bungy jumpers were taking off.