Day 9 last full day

Neil and Janie say farewell to Elizabeth and Randy!  We wish they could stay with us for the remainder of our trip, we will miss them as they head home via Auckland and reunite with their friends, Michelle,  Alex and Zoe to complete their journey.

The day was not the same without our traveling foursome...

We decided to hike to the top of the queenstown hill trail, a vertical uphill claiming trail with beautiful vistas and the top a 360 degree panoramic view.

Not driving karaoke...


We headed back to try the Fergburger eatery,  a Queenstown favorite... Yummy burgers, cod sandwiches and fries, worth the wait!🍔🍻

After the eating coma... We drove for a taste at a New Zealand winery, Amisfield  and found a delicious Sauvignon Blanc.  Cheers!🍷 a wonderful way to complete the day.

On top of the world

 Queenstown hill hike. Got a birds eye view of majestic lake wakatipu and the remarkable mountain ranges.

Day 8 jet boating on the Dart River

 

We had an exciting jet boat ride up the Dart River. When the water was deep enough, our captain did donuts, skimming and splashing in a 360 degree spin. It was an exciting, fast ride that lasted about an hour.

We got a little wet.

funyaking (fun +kayaking)

We had an amazing day jet boating up the Dart River and funyaking down it. We passed through Middle Earth.

Randy with our guide, Alicia

Neil & Randy's second fishing day

Neil's catch and release this morning! After just a couple of hours of fishing, our guide decided to head home when the weather got nasty... something about the risk of lighting strikes while we were in the lake.and waving graphite fishing rods. Phft... whatevahs...

California Rainbow fugitive gets caught in New Zealand

Couldn't resist the blow fly for breakfast.

After lunch, a storm rolled in and lightning was eminent.  Headed for shelter and the nearest WiFi hotspot.

Janie and Elizabeth day 7

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day. We forgot all about the rains from yesterday and took off on an early morning run.

Like good Hobbits we stopped for second breakfast on the way back.

Later Elizabeth tried her skills with driving on the left side of the road.

"Drive down the middle and hope for the best."

We took a scenic drive to Arrowtown where we did a bit of shopping and stopped into a French bistro for a spot of lunch and walked along the river track.

Apparently part of Lord of the Rings was filmed somewhere along this track.

Reporting live from Milford Track

River rain

Heavy rains caused milford track to become a river track.

Photos from our Milford Track Guided Trek!

Rainbow from the bus window

Our guide, Laura

Supplies were being delivered by helicopter.

The Glade House

Neil loving the rain.

Day 6 Milford Track

Milford track tour today. We started out early this morning by riding two different buses and a boat for a total of four hours. We landed at Milford track by noon. After five minutes in the rain we were soaking wet but still smiling. We hiked for about 45 minutes and arrived at Glade House where we had a yummy hot soup lunch next to a wood stove. We dried off and warmed up just to head back out into the rain. Half our party was so cold and wet they decided to stay in the hut while we finished the hike. Our hiking guides, Laura and Erin taught us all about the flora and fauna as we splashed our way through the rain forest. The raging river next to us was rising before our eyes. At one point we had to decide whether we really wanted to go on because the river was washing out the track and we were going to have to hike through water close to knee-deep. Of course we decided to continue. It was all worth it when we got to an open Glade full of multicolored mosses with massive mountains around us covered in waterfalls. 

One of the highlights on the trip for Elizabeth was the swinging bridge. Janie enjoyed sloshing through the puddles. Randy was busy testing out his waterproof gear, which seemed great until the new jacket he just bought ripped. Good thing it's from REI, hopefully they will replace it. Neil was finally able to grow a beard by sporting old man's moss.

Word for the day WET!

After getting back to our accommodations, we all warmed up and are now sitting by the fire enjoying a spectacular thunder and lightening storm over the lake.

Getting dirty down under!

Neil and Randy's 🐟 Day 5

Fly fishing! Neil and Randy had a blast!   They headed out early this morning with a real kiwi guide who took them out on a boat on Lake Wakatipu. The water was a beautiful turquoise color that had visibility of 6 - 10 feet. After waiting out rain ("rain before 7, sun by 11"), they landed 12 rainbow and brown trout weighing between 2 - 3+ pounds and hooked into several more.

Catch & Release fly fishing on Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown NZ.

Janie and Elizabeth Day 5

We started our day with a short run to Queenstown. As we arrived it started raining...,well actually pouring! Stopped in for coffee and breakfast, then ran back in the rain. Of course the rain stopped just before we got back.

After warm showers we headed out again. We saw real live kiwi birds, then rode a gondola to the top of a mountain where we had lunch. Coffee and chocolate cake...we earned it!

I love kiwis!

After enjoying the sweets and the view, we did some shopping and topped our day off with a glass of cider at an Irish pub.

Americans drinking apple ginger cider from Japan in an Irish pub in New Zealand. 

 

View from the top of the gondola ride.
 
 

 

More photos from day 4

 Lake Wakatipu at night

Water taxi