West Coast and Queenstown

We were going to stay two nights in Nelson but it only took a day to see what there was to see, nothing special, so we headed further south to Greymouth.
The weather has turned a bit rainy and it was grey until we reached Greymouth where it brightened up again.

The Montieth’s Brewery is only small and has been swept up by the bigger Diminion Breweries, much the same story as UK, but it has retained much of its tradition and remains my favourite beer to date in NZ. The tour was just the same as previous brewery tours I have taken in the UK and the best bit was to sample the full range of Montieth’s beers which were all excellent, even Sheila liked all except one which was the dark beer.

The drive down the west coast the following day was quite bad, really heavy rain and mist all day, we had to bypass three landslides which partially blocked the road. We passed through Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers but could not see anything; all the helicopter and plane flightseeing trips had been cancelled. We stayed in a one horse town called Haast and that’s all there is to say about it.
Next day was beautiful and we were really pleased that the weather had cleared as the trip to Queenstown through the Haast Pass and the following lakes Wanaka, Hawea and Wakitupa was the best scenery we have ever witnessed. I had to stop at least twenty times on the way and completely filled the camera’s memory card with excellent photos, the best selection is attached and it was very hard to pick which ones to add to the Blog.

We got a great deal on a three night stay in the Millennium Hotel, Queenstown, and we have really enjoyed the extra luxuries that a Hotel of this class can provide. The town is quite busy although I should imagine it is a lot busier in winter when the snow fields are full, it reminds me of a Lake District town but on a grander scale. There are a lot of Alpine style houses with typical stone walls and the lake is the clearest, deepest blue you can imagine all backed by a mountain range called The Remarkables which are 7800 feet tall.

Sheila has been looking forward to taking a ride on the Shotover Jet which speeds through the gorges and canyons of the Shotover River, sometimes in as little as 10 cm of water. I am sure you have seen videos of the ride on TV as it has been on a lot of travel programs, I know that is where Sheila saw it and wanted to experience it herself.
When you ‘check-in’ they give you a spray cape and life jacket so it looks a bit strange all the passengers waiting in these outfits to get on the boat. After the customary photos we boarded and off it went at a tremendous rate of knots, so much that it literally took your breath away. The driver indicates when he is going to perform a 360 degree spin so you can hang on for grim death and the inevitable soaking from freezing cold water. This lasts for half an hour, skimming past narrow gaps and jutting out rocks and going over water barely enough to paddle in. It was an experience not to miss and we both agreed it was well worth trying it, although it did take Sheila some time to unravel her hair.
There is quite a lot to do here and we visited an old style gold mining town called Arrowtown where the old buildings have been expertly restored.
A visit to Queenstown cannot be complete without a trip on Lake Wakapitu on the TSS Earnshaw, the only surviving passenger carrying steamship left, according to the plaque.
It was during the trip that we had our lunch and I decided to wind-up the seagulls which were sitting on one of the lifeboats, so I held up a chip to the window and this crazy seagull was hovering on the other side of the glass trying to snatch it, everybody thought it was very funny.
Queenstown can be classed as one of our favourite towns in NZ, not only for the beautiful setting but the amount of activities to do.
Next we’re off the Te Anau and Milford Sound.