Queenstown – Glenorchy – Lake Tekapo
The day started at a crisp 3ºC but it was sunny. To get ready for the long day ahead of me, I needed to fuel the car. At the petrol station, while filling, I saw a young lad drive up. Shoulder long hair, bare-chested – I did a double-take. I did another one when he actually got out of his car, only dressed in shorts, bare-legged and barefooted. I guess that’s what you could call a fresh start into the day!
For my start I headed north to Glenorchy. Whereas I passed on the adrenalin-rush jetboat trip, I followed yesterday’s guide’s other suggestions. Thus off I went to Glenorchy. The winding drive (yes!) lead along the east shore of Lake Wakatipu. On the way there, at Bennetts Bluff, I went on the Walking Track to take in the scenery: the Livingston Mountains and Humboldt Mountains across the lake, Mount Earnslaw Pikirakatahi at the north end, the Richardson Mountains to the east. What a spectacle! Little did I know at that point that there was more of that calibre to come later in the day. Glenorchy is as the guide described it to me. Mrs Woolly’s General Store and the toilets were well worth a visit, indeed.
My route took me back to Queenstown onto the Gibbston Highway along the Karawau Valley to Cromwell, past blossoming orchards and vineyards again. Then it went north along the east shore of the Clutha River, the massive Dunstan Mountain range to my right, into the Lindis Valley and up to the summit of Lindis Pass. An experience that was almost “out of this world”. The landscape around the summit looked like a moonscape. After the pass there came yet another highlight. I drove toward Twizel on a plain, was surrounded by white-tipped mountains and ranges everywhere. This culminated in the 5-star+ view of Mount Cook mirrored in Lake Pukaki in the late afternoon sunlight. Simply breathtaking! Almost inebriated by the opulence of these scenic beauties I made for the last leg of the journey, Lake Tekapo. I rounded off the day sitting on the deck of my abode, taking in the glorious view across the lake and listening to the evening song of a song thrush.
