Queenstown, New Zealand

Sunday morning we travelled from Franz Joseph glacier to Queenstown. We drove down the coast, past Knights Point,


then headed inland. We saw several waterfalls, including Thunder Creek falls:


We also saw Fantail Falls, which seemed to have the most cairns in one place that I've ever seen!


We left the rainforest plants behind as we headed into Haast Pass.


The inland lakes here have some of the bluest water I've seen. Like Lake Wanaka:


We passed through the Central Otago wine region


then into Queenstown.


Queenstown is located on Lake Wakatipu, which impressed with its blue waters and the nearby Remarkables.

The TSS Earnslaw (TSS stands for Twin Screw Steamship) is a coal-fired steamship that chugs its way constantly between Queenstown and Walter Peak farm.


Our hotel had a nice view of the lake, and I took this picture of Queenstown at sunset.


The next day, we took a gondola up a nearby mountain.


Terri and I did some luging in little carts at the top (but no bungy jumping!). In the afternoon, we went over to Walter Peak on the TSS Earnslaw. The farm there has alpaca (I caught this one yawning!)


red deer (I'm surprised at how many deer farms there've been in New Zealand)


and sheep. We had afternoon tea, then saw a demonstration of an Australian Shepherd at work,


and sheep shearing. We boated back to Queenstown for a nice dinner. The next morning, we headed for Te Anau.