From Mount Cook to Queenstown

 I am sorry for the gap in communication, but the travelling has been a bit full on and exhausting.  Saturday saw me leaving the Mount Cook area and travelling to Queenstown. We had a chatty driver, who told us lots about NZ as we drove along by lakes and vast stoney river valleys looking at yet more mountains and foothills. The scenery is just stunning wherever we go.

This is Tussock grass. The Maori used to use it to that their huts and also made weatherproof capes with it.  We have a similar grass on high marshy land in the UK but it isn't used for anything.

These stoney wide river valleys hinted at how they would be in spate. Some bigger boulders had been incorporated in the landscape by glaciation and in some parts the hillsides reminded me of Dartmoor with it's tirs, only much steeper. Gorse was introduced here, but they are trying to eradicate it, like the colourful Lupins which are in bloom at the moment. I have never seen an acre of Lupins (near a river as they like it damper) - they are do beautiful enough masse like that, but hard to capture as you zoom past.

This is the best I can do.

The driver stopped in a small town called Cromwell, at a vast fruit farm run by the Jones family. A nod to home for me.  I bought apples and cashew nuts.  They had a truly lovely garden you could wander round. Isn't this a lovely planting with all those Pansies? I will try the same in my back bed next year.

We finally reached Queenstown, at the head of a huge lake and ringed by more mountains.  This was the view from my hotel room. I was here two nights but the Wi-fi was pretty flakey and I couldn't even get TV reception on the 2nd might.   Mine host was a miserable git and must unhelpful. My booking email had said that a Continental breakfast was available, but when I asked if it might be possible for something to be packed to take as I was out early the next two days, I was told they didn't do breakfast and I should try the hotel opposite! No good when it doesn't even open until you are getting on the coach at 6?30 a.m. for Milford Sound. We locked horns again when I had to go back up and tell him that I couldn't get the Wi-fi password to work. I was told that I was putting it in wrong . I showed him what I had typed in and it was the right password but it still didn't work. He fiddled with something and finally sorted it, but it was crap reception. Trip Advisor will be advised. There were only two sound settings on the truly ancient TV remote too - loud or silent!

So it was the view that sustained me, as by the time I arrived there each evening I was too exhausted to go in search or a restaurant.  It was a good walk out of town with a goodly hill involved so I just had cheese and biscuits. I didn't intend losing weight on holiday but I have (and need to lose more). Onwards and upwards.