Nov 7th – Our trip today from Wanaka to Queenstown was relatively short but a mountain range stood in our way. There are two ways to go: the longer route around the range or the shorter route up the Crown Range Road. This road is the highest in NZ at over 3300′ and needless to say has many twisting and turning sections. It actually wasn’t too bad until just at the end when there are about 8 or 9 hairpin turns to get down to the valley floor. The views along the way of the southern alps of course were stunning.

Before arriving at Queenstown we stopped at Arrowtown and had a picnic in the park. I’m sure George and Jenn visited here since there are many Lord of the Rings sites close by. It too was a gold mining town and much of the main street has been preserved. They have also set aside an area down by the river flats which used to be Chinatown. During the gold rush many men from China came over to make their fortune but it was a hard life living away from family and being ostracized by society.

Queenstown is a very busy city but there isn’t much there other than for the tourists. They have developed a specialty for biking and so there were lots of young people in town here too. Our hotel is out on the other side of the lake so it is quite quiet and peaceful. Our room is a self-contained unit so we will probably eat in some of the time. The hotel has, for a fee, unlimited internet access so our first order of business was to watch the CBC news!