Travels with haRVy

The day we drove through Queenstown, the adventure capital of NZ, things were really hoppin’. There were para-gliders on the lake, parachutists in the air, jet boats on the river, bungee jumpers on the bridge, and much more. What a frenzy of activity, none of which we were interested in (must be getting old, eh?). We continued on for the beautiful drive to the small town of Glenorchy.  Our campsite was beyond the town at the end of the road.

The next morning the nearby peaks had a new dusting of snow.

Our next stop was in Arrowtown, a charming but touristy gold rush town. I got up really early to take these photos without cars and people.

Former miner’s cabins now house small businesses.

More heritage buildings with afternoon tourists.

Many of Arrowtown’s early gold miners were adventurous Chinese, and the remains of their very separate village lie by the river.

I really liked these novel advertising “vehicles.”

Our brief visit to Wanaka featured a visit to Cinema Paradiso for their homemade ice cream.

An entire town celebrates Albert’s 70th year!

Heading up the shore of Lake Hawea.

The rough dusty road to our next campsite.

A few of the local residents (bovine and ruminant) tried to impede our progress.

The reward for our efforts – a remote lakeside campsite.

Yet another beautiful, but challenging, drive took us over Haast Pass. Along the way we took a few short hikes to the Blue Pools,

Fantail Falls,

Some mighty cascades (not how small that person looks),

And Thunder Creek Falls, before finally reaching the West Coast.