We woke to find it was raining heavily in Invercargill. It's just as well Paul took some photographs in Invercargill last night, or we would have none at all.
Invercargill isn't very big, but it does have one or two interesting buildings. This is the old Railway Hotel, dated 1896.
and the Town Hall and Theatre (seems an odd combination to me) completed in 1906.
Consultation of weather forecasts indicated that it would also be raining in Dunedin, so we opted to head towards Queenstown, where a fine afternoon was expected. The rain on the way there was very heavy, just like the Milford Sound rain, but fortunately it had mostly gone off by the time we arrived in Kingston, in time to see the Kingston Flyer. This wonderful old heritage railway has recently re-opened after being sold. The two locomotives date from the 1920s, and the old wooden carriages from 1898.
It wasn't due to leave for 2 hours, and the 24 km journey (12 km to Fairlight and 12 back) takes 90 minutes; so Paul decided not to wait, and we pressed on. The journey along Lake Wakatipu was very disappointing, the lake and hills being all but invisible in the mist and rain. We ate our sandwiches in the car! We went to a charming picnic spot, but was too wet to get out of the car; the rain had started again with a vengeance!
We gave Queenstown a miss and went on to Arrowtown, which we had been disappointed not to see properly when we went through it on the tour. Arrowtown was a town of the gold rush, but it did not become a ghost town like so many others, and many of the original buildings still exist. Fortunately, by the time we arrived, the rain had mostly stopped, and we were able to see the historic buildings. There are many charming cottages, dating from the 1860s and 1870s. We had coffee and sticky buns in this one, which used to be a family home. We sat on the verandah you can see here, decorated with bunting, and it was suddenly quite warm.
There were so many pretty cottages in this street, it is hard to pick just one, but this is very typical.
The main street is also full of historic buildings, but is impossible to photograph them without getting cars in the picture. You can probably see this old Pharmacy below is dated 1862. Many of the shops date between 1860 and 1915 or so.
We went down the hill to look at the Chinese Settlement, where the cottages of the 1860s and 70s were not nearly so charming.
The Chinese gold miners were not welcomed into the community. Many went home when the gold ran out, or to other diggings. Some stayed in Arrowtown for a while, growing and selling vegetables in gardens round tiny cottages like these.
We decided to make next for Wanaka, where I thought we might spend the night. However, we decided to take the scenic alpine route through the Cardrona ski area. We were not too surprised that our tour bus did not take this route, it was absolutely full of terrifying hairpin bends, where the maximum recommended speed was 15 km. The view from the scenic viewpoint was spectacular.
The road was narrow and very twisty, and there were quite a few bays where you could pull in to put on your snow chains. Neither of us fancied the drive with snow and ice on the road. We drove on through Cardrona, but couldn't really see where people went to ski, and I only noticed one ski lift. Eventually, the road dropped down towards Lake Wanaka, and we were able to take pictures of the lake from the hills above, which we hadn't been able to do from the tour bus. There is still snow on the high mountain tops.
At that point, it had been my intention to stop, as it was almost 5, but Paul decided he would like to go on, so we drove towards Omarama, where we had stayed before. I see from our tour itinerary that we didn't drive this route before either. The sides of the road were ablaze with Russell Lupins, pink, lilac and purple.
We crossed the Lindis Pass, climbing through rocky gorges
and reaching tussock covered hills.
The tussocks are bleached to beige, and the hills are an amazing khaki colour.
When we descended to the plain and saw the approaching cliffs, I knew Omarama was near.
At this point, Paul agreed we should stop and we found a motel, and were recommended to a cafe near the airfield, where, over dinner, we met a Swiss glider pilot. He comes to Australia and New Zealand when it is too cold for gliding in Switzerland.
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