Queenstown, Monday

A lot of heavy rain over night so woke up to a grey and dreary start to the day. Those that were booked for the Haast fast boat trip were disappointed as it was cancelled. As we drive though the Haast and other little towns and villages on the way to Queenstown, the weather brightened up and we soon had blue skies again. Once again we were treated to such magnificent scenery. I was surprised to see all the vines covered in mesh to keep birds out. Clearly they arent prepared to lose even one grape to birdlife! They also are growing vines on the sides of mountains so not sure how good they will be.

Stopped at an information station where I bought myself a pretty blue scarf. Typically it was designed in New Zealand but when I later read the small print, saw that it was made in China! Bugga...

My main complaint about our travels is that there is next to no time to spend having a look around at any of the smaller places we stop at. It is either a quick coffee, lunch or comfort stop. I'd love to spend more time wandering around some of the quaint little places we simply drive through. However we are still seeing lots of the countryside, just nothing in any depth.

We have 2 nights in Queenstown and are staying at a lovely hotel with huge rooms and each room having a balcony facing onto the lake, howver it is on the top of a hill and appears to be a bloody long way back into the city proper! It will be even longer walking back to it, all uphill. I have no idea how some of the real oldies and not very mobile members of our group are going to manage. To add to the problem, due to staff shortages as nearly every venue in New Zealand has, there is no dining room or bar open at the hotel, although apparently we will be getting breakfast of a morning. That being the case, we were able to stop at a supermarket on the way to Queenstown and stock up with food for tonight. D, G and I decided on cheese, crackers and dip, plus wine for our dinner and that suited us perfectly. Not sure exactly what the plan will be for tomorrow night but we will figure it out. They have a microwave and sink in their room which is next door to me so I'm sure we will be able cook up a storm. Such a lovely view from my blacony but I'm not convinced it will make up for the marathon walking I will have to do in the morning. Tomorrow's blog will tell the tale.