Author: lily

Larnach Castle

We drove towards Larnach Castle through the breathtaking mountains of Otago Peninsula. We stopped at a world war 1 soldiers memorial and had a steep walk to the top of it. Next we drove to Larnach Castle and found the inside and gardens restored beautifully! At the beginning of the day we intended to go to Lake Te Kapu but drove to Timaru. We’re in 1960’s flat tonight right on the marina. We had a great meal at a local brewery. Its a spread out beachy kind of place. Suzie has done a great job of driving the near 300km!

Dunedin

Woo hoo we ended up in Dunedin yesterday! We were driving to Milford Sound but the road seemed busy and the weather was drizzling and cloudy so we thought we’d just go to Invercargill! It was still drizzling at Invercargill so we drove to Dunedin! We ended up driving for 5-6 hours! Compared to the west coast the east coast land is lot flatter and lots of sheep farms! We’ve stayed 2 nights here at the Quest; walked a lot around hilly Dunedin! We walked around what they call the green belt. Beautiful old houses on hills here. Lovely cold weather cottage gardens again here.

Wanaka. Arrowtown. Queenstown

Spent 3 nights in Wanaka. Now that we’ve been in Queenstown its hard to tell which is more scenic. Wanaka is a lot more peaceful. The drive to Arrowtown also very scenic and winding. We had a look around the quaint old gold mining town and had a walk along the shady Arrow river. Lots of wool products for sale but very high price tags and busy with international tourists! Queenstown also coming up to their busy tourist walking season. We’ve been cooking our own meals except for lunch today where we bought lunch in a fresh food cafe! I walked up the steep streets to near the top of the town and met a  Japanese Queenstown resident and had a pleasant chat with her. Suzy had a look round the markets and did not buy a single item (just sayin! ). Heading off to Lake Te Anau tomorrow possibly going to Doubtful Sound OR Milford Sound OR both! !!

Wanaka with Suzy Kouw.

Left to our own devices we wandered around Wanaka streets and around the lake. Hot windy day down here. Met a local who said this is very unusual wind for here as the lake had white caps! Houses are on mountain slopes and have lovely gardens and we were surprised by the colourful gardens. We walked for three hours then went back to our apartment and made brunch! After some food we were energetic again drove to Albert town and Hawea but it was still very windy so we didn’t get out for another walk. We plan on getting out again after our stir fry dinner!