South Island swan song

Tomorrow, Saturday, we fly off to Rotorua on North Island. It was a warm sunny day on our last day on South Island, a truly remarkable place. In the 17 days we have been on South Island we have boated with the dolphins, gone wine tasting, stayed in a vineyard, gone to national parks, sand dunes, alps, wild capes with crashing waves, glacier hikes, penguin watching, rain forests. Every turn is another marvel.

After yet another delicious breakfast this morning and a walk around the grounds, we drove to Queenstown and took the gondola up to the top of Bob's Peak.

There is a beautiful panoramic view of Queenstown, Lake Wakipitu and surrounds. Bill referred to Queenstown as the Aspen of New Zealand which seems to be an apt description. The top of the peak had bungy platforms, paragliding expeditions, parasailing down below on the lake, luge runs down the mountain and a helipad on top to shuttle people back and forth. The lake below had an America's Cup yacht sailing on it, next to a 100 year old steamer that shuttles tourists back and forth to the sheep shearing station making way for the parasailer. Queenstown is a nice place and is full of tourists.

It's off to Arrowtown, our now favourite town in this area. Today was burger, fries and milkshake day. We went to a place called The Shed, a walk up fast food place on the main street in town. Bill recommended it and his recommendation proved correct again. Rumour has that Bill taught them how to make the perfect shake.

After lunch we took a very leisurely 4.2km walk down the Arrow River.

Back to White Shadows for nibbles, wine and good conversation. Pack the bags and watch the next Bourne flick.

Today's observation:

The expression "crystal clear" for the clear waters here in NZ is incorrect. The correct description I have been told is "gin clear". Some waters are Bombay, some are Sapphire Gin. But gin nevertheless.