Queenstown, Lake Dunstan, Fruitland
Saturday February 4, day 6 we drove 288 km or 170 miles to Queenstown Holiday Park Creekside in Queenstown. This area is known for stone fruits (peaches, cherries, appricots and plums) and dairy farms. Dave and I took a small detour across another one lane bridge to Miller’s Flat where we had a picnic lunch. The landscape is getting hillier and rockier.
We stopped to admire the Clyde Power Station, from both sides of the dam., constructed between 1979 and 1993.
As we were driving through Queenstown trying to find our campground amidst a lot of street construction, we saw something interesting. There must be a fraternity initiation going on. We saw one guy dressed in a pink tutu get out of a van and run around his van, when stopped at a stop light. At first, his friends were not going to let him back in! A few blocks away was a young man in a pink strapless dress. How fun!
After getting parked in our site at the campground, we walked a few blocks to the gondolas that would take us above the city to Bob’s Peak. The views were fantastic. Part of our time here include 2 Luge rides per person. I decided not to do it because I knew knew I would have trouble getting in and out of the cars so Dave had 4 rides and he had a great time. Later, we were served dinner in the Skyline Restaurant.
This is a good place to talk about New Zealand and Australia campgrounds. They all include the normal laundry area but also kitchens where one can cook and wash dishes and may include a lounge area. They have outdoor flat grills for everyone’s use. The campgrounds might have up to 4 of each of these. How useful.
Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu
Sunday, February 5, day 7 most of the group was going on some optional excursions. We decided to spend the day exploring Queenstown. We walked in a light rain to the wharf area. We stopped at Pier Restaurant and Bar for our weekly bloody mary. Because it was almost noon we wanted to find some lunch. We wanted to go to the Flame Bar & Grill, but we couldn’t find the entrance. Eventually we got to an Irish Pub. They were having computer issues and could only take cash. We were going to eat there, but decided not to spend all our New Zealand Dollars. We continued on to a different restaurant, Pag Mahones Irish Pub and Restaurant, where we shared corn fritters for lunch. Sallie and Sue came in before we left and sat next to us. We then went back to the campground for a quiet afternoon and evening. We cooked supper at one of the outdoor kitchens in the campground.
The bathrooms and showers in this park were very unique. They were in an old oast house or hop liln which used to be used to dry hops. Each shower and toilet stall were decorated differently. The theme of the men’s was a pub. The theme for the women’s was a spa.
