Thursday 5th January - Back in Queenstown

As always we were very sad to leave Wanaka; it really is one of our favourite places.

We are heading back to Queenstown where we have booked in to a new camp site named Driftaway. We spotted it a few days ago, the LLW decided it was suitable and David recommended it since he had stayed there recently during one of his long distance races.

Beautiful weather again this morning but we are aware that the forecast for Thursday and Friday is not good. 

The LLW took charge of driving the Motor Home this morning and we sped along Lake Dunstan to Cromwell which is the heart of the soft fruit growing area. A suitable quantity of said fruits were purchased and on we went through the Kawarau gorge stopping at Gibbston Valley winery for a coffee. 

We parked in the newly constructed car park, where the ticketing machines are now working, and unleashed the bikes for a ride across the river towards Kelvin Heights which is on the southern side of the Frankton Arm of Lake Whakatipu.

Upon our return we were now able to check into Driftaway and it is very new, and very plush for a camp site, with great views over the lake.

A visit to Countdown and the very much expanded 5 mile shopping centre involved turning right across the very busy Queenstown to Cromwell road. Reprovisioned, we returned to the camp site and Ray was sent off to cycle into Queenstown whilst the LLW made sure that all of her men where in their appropriate boxes!

As expected Thursday dawned cloudy but the overnight rain had not materialised.

The LLW had just about forgiven the Boat Shed for being full when we tried to eat here a few days ago so we decided to walk down past the marina this morning in time for them opening and have breakfast there. As you can see from the photos below, we succeeded this time and both of us had Eggs Benedict, the LLW having oak smoked salmon with hers and Ray having bacon. We both declared that this was the best breakfast dish we have had so far which, given the class of hotel we have stayed in, is quite something. As always in NZ the coffee was excellent.

As we walked back to the camp site, the rain started but with umbrella to hand we remained dry. Time to catch up with the blog and for Rosemary to do some work in her specially designed Motor Home office

As you can see the Motor Home is quite an impressive vehicle and at 7.4M long is larger than we have driven before. However, it is remarkably easy to drive and the introduction of a reversing camera makes parking a lot easier than previously experience. It is very well designed with a permanent double bed and most mod cons (except a microwave).

Those of you who have read our blog previously may recall that in 2016/17 we rented bikes from the motor home supplier, Maui. The bikes were very poor quality and ridiculously expensive at ~ $NZ 40 per day for 2.  In 18/19 we decided to buy new bikes in Whangarei and leave them with David Dixon in Arrowtown. My recollection is that we paid ~$NZ 1000 for the two bikes. With a total of 75 days across the two holidays, buying the very good new bikes was an excellent decision.

The camp site is quite something and below you can see the facilities hub which has a very large kitchen/diner and a terrace overlooking the lake with built in BBQs.

Even today in the grey but now dry weather, the views from the camp site are impressive.

Later in the day we took the ferry into Queenstown from Franklin Marina and after a wander around we had a meal at the Bath House which is on the beachfront with lovely views across the lake.

Tomorrow we are planning to meet Tayne & Doug in Queenstown (Rosemary worked with Tayne at Wedlake Bell), probably at the Bath house, and then in the evening will visit the Dixons in Arrowtown, before Hilton & Anne fly back to the UK on Saturday and we leave the central Otago area and start our journey north.