Glenorchy, NZ and Queenstown Skyline

Today the weather warmed up into the sixties and the sun came out. I have to confess there were times that we looked at the ten day forecast and wondered if we would ever see the mountains in the sun so when we saw a glimpse of good weather we jumped on it and packed in a lot. We decided to drive the 45km to the Northern end of Lake Wakatipu and the scenic town of Glenorchy. 

My sister stayed near here on her recent trip to New Zealand and she recommended checking it out. We designed our overall trip to minimize driving but we figured with just 45km we might not need Dramamine for this drive. We were wrong. After just twenty minutes on the road - including a stop - Tess was sick and by the time we arrived the two girls had thrown up a combined three times. So the day started inauspiciously but improved quickly.

The pier by the lake side in Glenorchy was worth the trip in and of itself. We loved the quiet of the spot and standing on the water we began to really appreciate the scale of what we were seeing.

We loved seeing the snow capped peaks appear from behind the clouds.

My sister recommended a walk in the area. We had heard it went along the water and offered good opportunities to see bird life. It was flat and lovely and the scenery astounded at every turn. The girls seemed thrilled to be out and active after a squirmy few days. I still can't get over that they will happily do two hour walks with us. I have my eye on a harder hike for later in our trip. I really hope we can pull it off.

The walk took us across several long boardwalks.

Both girls collected rocks and we convinced them to make little fairy houses with them instead of having us lug them all home. Emily grew completely obsessed with this idea and stopped in the middle of the trail to make one. By the end of the day she had made four or five in various spots and decided to create fairy houses everywhere we go on this trip.

This fairy house included a separate garden.

After all the fresh air and exercise - and a dose of Dramamine - we actually enjoyed our drive back to Queenstown.

We stopped a few times to take pictures. I even took a turn at the wheel.

Once back in Queenstown we grabbed a quick lunch and headed up the Skyline gondola to get a view from up high.

 

Several people recommended taking the luge rides down so we tried that too. Queenstown prides itself on its access to adrenaline fueled adventure sports. We took one look at the bungy jumps and figured this was more our speed. The girls were quite nervous at first but they ended up loving it.

Riding the chairlift increased the fun and the opportunities for views.

We ended up riding tandem on the carts so each girl got a parent partner. Here are Emily and Tess demonstrating the tandem set up. 

We really had a spectacular day. We feel rested and relaxed and far away from everything. I could go home tomorrow and feel happy about our trip. I can't believe we still have over a week to enjoy. Tomorrow we drive to Manapouri to head out on an overnight trip to Doubtful Sound.