Queenstown is the adventure tourism capital of the South Island, maybe New Zealand, probably the world. Ever wanted to wing-walk a stunt bi-plane? You can do it here, as well as anything else you or anyone else has been able to conjure up. Apparently Kiwis are not particularly litigious. Or perhaps their judges and juries are not particularly sympathetic to people whose claims involve jumping off of towers, bridges, canyon cliffs, buildings, aircraft, tall trees, etc.
Apart from several LOTR sites en route (more later), our major stop of the day was at the old Kawarau River Bridge (over the Anduin, again), where bungy (sic) jumping was invented and perfected by one AJ Hackett. There are higher sites (also Hackett's) and more outrageous jumps, but this one was the original, very historic, founded way back in 1988 (AD). And, since we were driving right past it, in search of the Pillars of the Kings, we had to stop. It's not just a rope hanging off a bridge. There is a visitor center, an historic plaque, a multi-media show, a gift store, a wine bar/cafe, a restaurant, wine-tasting...and, oh yes, scores of people lined up to jump in an assembly-line procession, family and “friends” encouraging them from the sidelines. I was very slightly tempted, but unfortunately, or not, had shot my whole adventure tourism budget on the micro-flight. The oldest person to have done this sort of thing so far was 94. I'll come back later.
The day's LOTR sites included a variety of panoramic views, in Rob Roy valley (Misty Mountains south of Rivendell), in the mountains south of Wanaka, the Crown Range, and on the river by AJ Hackett's, the Anduin, again, which must be a great river indeed since it spans two islands. In the case of the latter, the search involved a stop, a tasting, and, ultimately, a purchase at the Chard Farm Vinyard, whose staff were very knowledgeable of Ring lore and local sites, and who produce a very fine NZ sauvignon blanc. This is the price faithful Ringers must pay. The last sites were in Arrowtown, a beautifully restored/preserved mining town that was crawling with tourists on a sunny Monday afternoon. The sites in question were two river shots, the Ford of Bruinen, where Arwen saves Frodo from the Black Riders (in the movie), the other the Gladden Fields (ditto) where Isuldur was ambushed by the orcs and lost the Ring. (I can't believe I am writing this stuff; Vicki is the Ringer in our crew). In any case, we found both fairly readily, for once, enjoyed some time on the river and in town, and then moved on to beautiful Queenstown, a small city on a huge high lake, ringed by tall mountains. We camped at the Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park, a few blocks up from the downtown.
Apart from several LOTR sites en route (more later), our major stop of the day was at the old Kawarau River Bridge (over the Anduin, again), where bungy (sic) jumping was invented and perfected by one AJ Hackett. There are higher sites (also Hackett's) and more outrageous jumps, but this one was the original, very historic, founded way back in 1988 (AD). And, since we were driving right past it, in search of the Pillars of the Kings, we had to stop. It's not just a rope hanging off a bridge. There is a visitor center, an historic plaque, a multi-media show, a gift store, a wine bar/cafe, a restaurant, wine-tasting...and, oh yes, scores of people lined up to jump in an assembly-line procession, family and “friends” encouraging them from the sidelines. I was very slightly tempted, but unfortunately, or not, had shot my whole adventure tourism budget on the micro-flight. The oldest person to have done this sort of thing so far was 94. I'll come back later.
The day's LOTR sites included a variety of panoramic views, in Rob Roy valley (Misty Mountains south of Rivendell), in the mountains south of Wanaka, the Crown Range, and on the river by AJ Hackett's, the Anduin, again, which must be a great river indeed since it spans two islands. In the case of the latter, the search involved a stop, a tasting, and, ultimately, a purchase at the Chard Farm Vinyard, whose staff were very knowledgeable of Ring lore and local sites, and who produce a very fine NZ sauvignon blanc. This is the price faithful Ringers must pay. The last sites were in Arrowtown, a beautifully restored/preserved mining town that was crawling with tourists on a sunny Monday afternoon. The sites in question were two river shots, the Ford of Bruinen, where Arwen saves Frodo from the Black Riders (in the movie), the other the Gladden Fields (ditto) where Isuldur was ambushed by the orcs and lost the Ring. (I can't believe I am writing this stuff; Vicki is the Ringer in our crew). In any case, we found both fairly readily, for once, enjoyed some time on the river and in town, and then moved on to beautiful Queenstown, a small city on a huge high lake, ringed by tall mountains. We camped at the Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park, a few blocks up from the downtown.
Natural Selection in Progress; at AJ Hackett's Original Bungy Site, Kawarau (Anduin) Bridge
Vicki at the Ford of Bruinen
The Mighty Anduin, The Great River, from the Chard Farm Vineyards
January 12, 2000--Arrowtown, near Queenstown, New Zealand
We stayed last night in our first "wild camping" at the end of a day hike into a fabulous canyon with Rob Roy Glacier at the end of it. Basically we haven't wild camped as much as we thought we would. Part of that is being strangers in a strange land, but also because of the sand flies. These are terrible in rural areas with lots of grass and bushes. It was very windy last night so they weren't a problem, but they were back this morning, so we packed up as quickly as possible. Today we drove to some additional LOR sites on our way to Queenstown. We are in the public library now--we had to pay (though only $1) to check email, so I thought I would use the rest of the time to blog. We did stay two nights in a backpacker's lodge in Wanaka and were very pleased with it. It was only $36 a night whereas camping without hookups would have been $18. We had our own room and the bath was down the hall. It was nice to be inside--the kitchen had everything including a blender, dishes, even special shelves in cupboard and refrigerator labeled with your room number. We spent more to rent a van we could sleep in, but had we known how great and easy the backpacker accomodations were, we might have gone with just a car and ended up paying about the same in total per day. We still hope to come back in the next few years for 4-6 months. I know we won't do the van route as we can barely climb up into the roof bed now! We are starting to think about buying the camper for Europe so that is exciting, too. I am also excited about getting back to Missoula for visits with our friends--whom I miss very much.
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