Queenstown, 2018

Queenstown can wow you, as it did us in 2009. In 2014, it was more of an old friend. (Just enter Queenstown in the search box for my several 2009 and 2014 posts; not to be missed is my Birth of Venus pose at the Basket of Dreams, Queenstown Hill).  In 2018, it was more of an old friend who has greatly changed. We checked into the favored Lakeview campground, did the wash, then walked down the hill to the downtown, mostly unchanged, and shopped our favorite shops...Kathmandu, Global Culture, Torpedo 7. A pizza dinner. Though the downtown area is still recognizable, its surroundings are vastly changed, back through Frankton, and across the lake too. Aspenization is not fully realized, but it is well underway. New Zealand is not a wealthy country. One wonders who will inhabit the thousands of new condo units. In any case, the weather was turning from warm to hot as a heat wave of historic proportions engulfed the island. We decided to head toward Antarctica...

In the Crown range

Above Queenstown and beautiful Lake Wakatipu; note jetliner
taking off from airport

Street scene

Ditto; an incredibly international place

Best Asian grocery in this part of the world

BBQ!

Concert in the square

Bradrona: The Great Bra Fence At Cardrona

We spent another night at Raspberry Creek and then drove the cruel, corrugated gravel road back to Wanaka (past the world's largest and most awful campground, at Glendhu), provisioned, and drove on, crossing the Crown range, and encountering the Great Bra Fence of Cardrona, 8th wonder of the Kiwi world, now known as Bradrona. It has grown considerably since 2014, in size and also respectability. Sort of.

Only in New Zealand

Rob Roy Glacier, 2018

We did the fabulous Rob Roy Glacier hike way back in 2009 and again in 2014, and were sure to do it again in 2018. After a brief visit to beautiful Wanaka, we drove the corrugated gravel road out into Mt. Aspiring National Park, and camped at the Raspberry Creek carpark; as in previous years. Next day, however, January 24th, we awoke to a light rain and dense low clouds that obscured all the views. The rain stopped by mid-afternoon, and I hiked about a third of the way up the trail, just to get some steps. Nothing but clouds. Bummer. Next day, however, was more promising, and so we set out on our 3rd Rob Roy hike. One of the great day hikes in the world!

Encampment

Helpful map of the area; don't think you can see Mt. Aspiring
from here; apart from Mt. Cook, it's the other big one in the
Southern Alps; glaciers certainly to match Cook's

Environs and the big river Rob Roy's glaciers feed

Early glimpse of the glacier

More scenic vistas

 

Almost there

NZ has (hundreds of?) thousands of waterfalls; this is one of the
longer free falls

Better part of a thousand feet, I'd guess

Panning a bit; the clouds are so low you can see only the bottom
bits of the glaciers

Panning further

Panning further still

Can't really see that there has been much glacial retreat; certainly
not like Fox or Franz Josef

The trail

Last looks

 

Waterfall City; and that's not a tenth of the panorama!

Lair fixer-upper on the gorge; subject to flooding

More of the trail: standard DOC, not as groomed, immaculate
as one of the Great Walks, but still 10-12k without a cigaret
butt or candy wrapper

Quite a few steps built recently to circumvent wash-outs

Add caption

Quite a few lairs, overhangs

The really big one

Smile!

Torrent in the gorge

At Rob Roy

Clay Cliffs Of Omarama

We stopped to see the clay cliffs--sort of a New Zealand badlands--in 2014, and thought they might have been where the Dimholt scenes from LOTR were shot. Not so. In 2018, we had the good sense to drive right by them. They actually are more impressive at a distance. On the North Island, we'll visit the Putangirua Pinnacles. Toward the end of February.

Alpine Lavender Farm

I've started a folder on the quaint, the curious, and the quirky in New Zealand. It will be a large folder, and the lavender farm might yet figure in it, but it warrants its own little post. The farm, such as it is, is in high country, on the road to Mt. Cook, miles and miles from anything, just there by itself. Of course there is a gift shoppe and a food trailer where you can buy lavender ice cream, etc. We've seen lots of lavender farms, mostly in France, but not like this.

Tastes like soap?

Someone else's photo...winner of an annual photo contest they
do here

Farewell, Aoraki

January 22nd was an all-day rain at Mt. Cook, with high winds too. We decided it was a good day to simply read, laze, blog, what have you. The remaining hikes in the area we had not already done were both step-climbs: stairs the DOC put in years ago up to tarns above the valley, one 1800 steps, the other, 1500 steps. January 23rd was a sunny day, and we pondered doing one of the tarns hikes, mostly to see the glaciers closer-up. But climbing such staircases seemed a poor idea for Vicki's knees, also descending them, and we decided to move on again, now toward Wanaka, Mt. Aspiring National Park, and the Rob Roy glacier hike we love.

Amazing to me how many people went hiking despite the rain;
I guess maybe they had deadline issues

Next day, before we left, Rooby is just visible on the left

Glacier-view from the Whitehorse campground

Thus

Last look toward Mt. Sefton and the area