Day 67 - Monday 11th March 2024

First thing today is a bit of an admin follow up from yesterday. I had two video clips from Doubtful Sound that were too long to make the weekly video, and too good to go onto the proverbial cutting room floor. That's why I have the 'Bryan's Briefs' channel in YouTube, so I've put together Episode 3 and Episode 4 for these clips. I hope you enjoy.

A leisurely start this morning, the bag repacked after a four night stay and a video chat with Alan on his birthday; it may be Monday here, but it was still Sunday back home so it was good to be able to wish him a happy birthday. He mentioned that it's also Mothers Day in the UK (I've heard no mention of it here so they must use the other date), so I also had a video chat with Mum.

All packed and on the road by 09:30. Onto State Highway 94, and a stop for coffee about 40 minutes in before joining SH97 for a short while. Then SH6 to take me to Queenstown and my home for the next three nights.

As I drove along the shore of Lake Wakatipu there were a number of scenic lookouts; Lake Wakatipu Lookout, Woodland Walk (where there was no walk but a great view!), Devils Staircase Lookout and Halfway Bay Lookout). 

Lake Wakatipu Lookout
Woodland Walk
Devils Staircase Lookout
Halfway Bay

Then into Queenstown where the intention was to do the Queenstown Hill hike. Satnav took me straight to the car park, but this held only four of five cars and was full. Surrounding roads were also jammed with parked cars, so I gave up on that idea and returned down the hill, stopping at a viewpoint on the way.

The next plan was to go and take a look at a Lord of the Rings location. For those of you who know the films, the Warg Riders attack was filmed in a place called Deer Park Heights just outside of Queenstown. I arrived at the gate and discovered that you need to pre book and pay $55 per car, so I joined several other cars in doing three point turns to return to the main road. I suspect that this'll be one of the sites we visit tomorrow on the full day Lord of the Rings tour, so I don't see the point of paying for access today.

By now check in was open at my hotel, so I found the place, parked the car in their subterranean car park and settled in for the next few days. I had some organisation to do for tomorrow's tour to figure out where I'd get picked up and park; my hotel is about 8km from the centre of Queenstown and I need to get to them early tomorrow morning for an 08:00 departure. It's a good thing I'm an early riser!

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