Friday, March 21, 2025

 Good Morning Queenstown!

We are driving to Franz Josef today. It’s about 6 hours without stopping. We will be stopping! Our 2 bedroom apartment in Queenstown was very nice. We really enjoyed the washer/dryer after being on the road for 12 days. The Rees Hotel is on the Frankton Bay which leads into Lake Wakatipu. 



As  we were leaving Queenstown there was a hot air balloon over the open fields. 


We are on the Crown Ridge Road which is a series of switchbacks up the mountain.





Our next stop was Cardrona. It’s a tiny town with one of NZ  oldest pubs and a General Store.












 Our next stop is Lake Wanaka. There is a famous tree there right along the lake’s shoreline. This time of year the lake is low so it’s not as submerged. Very cool. Just think, without the internet, ChatGPT, and Instagram, we would miss all the best of the best spots in New Zealand!






We have to step it up a bit. We have been driving for 3.5 hours…our drive is 6 hours and we still have 4 hours to go! Jeff is our taskmaster. I keep telling him it’s not the destination, it’s the journey.

Our next stop is Fantail Falls. It was a quick hike in to see the Fantail Falls. There was a downed tree with rock piles across the entire trunk of the tree. It is part of the Haast Pass. The pass gorge is 60 kilometers (37 miles) long.










The water was crystal clear and freezing. When we got there a father and his young daughter were swimming in the water! My fingers were cold just picking up a rock!




We stopped for lunch in Hasst, population 90-100, at the Hard Antler.



Next we continued to see more scenes on the Tasman Sea to Knights Point overlooking the sea. This is really only the 2nd day of cloudy weather. We can’t see the mountains or glaciers. The cloud cover is low. 






Next stop is Franz Josef. Unfortunately it’s overcast and we are unable to see where the glaciers are located. 
We settled in at our hotel The Rainforest Retreat in Franz Josef. It’s a free standing 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment. The we went to dinner at Alice May. Alice May was a local character who killed a man for leaving her at the alter. She turned things around and is quite a legend here in Franz Josef. Steve and I had lamb shank with pumpkin and mashed potatoes and Jeff had Beef cheeks. Both were really delicious.



Back to the treehouse… good night Franz Josef🇳🇿🇳🇿
🙏 for clear skies tomorrow!

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