We drove into Queenstown yesterday, with an hour and a half hike to the top of Mt. Iron and a stop in a former gold rush town called Arrowtown along the way.
Near Arrowtown was one of the many Lord of the Rings movie locations. At this one they filmed Arwen raising the river at the Ford of Bruinen when the Black Riders were trying to catch Frodo, although we didn't see the actual place. Arrowtown has lots of quaint shops, but our group pretty much made a bee line for the one with the home made chocolates. (I went for the dark chocolate w/ apricots, dark chocolate with prunes (interesting…), and dark chocolate with lavender.)
Queenstown sits above and along Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand’s third largest lake. The lake is about 50 miles long (82 kilometers) and parts are over a thousand feet deep. The city bills itself as the adrenaline/adventure capital of the world. We had a day off here with the option to choose to book activities such as bungy jumping (originated here!), jet boating down a steep and narrow canyon, hang gliding, helicopter rides, and probably a dozen other options.
I went for the horseback riding. It was billed as “The Ride of the Rings”, and after driving along the lake to a small town called Glenorchy, we spent an hour and a half riding through Lord of the Rings locations used for Lothlorien, Amon Hen, and the hill where Boromir was killed, and looked up at the mountains used for the backdrops of Isengard and Methedras. We also heard lots of stories from the filming. For example, the Orcs had so much makeup and prosthetics on that they couldn't see anything while they ran through the forest, and they kept running into things and falling.
They ride English style here, and it was the first time I've done that. You hold the reins differently because you don't neck rein, and you must wear a helmet. The ride itself was beautiful. Woods, valleys, mountains, sheep, deer; it was truly magical. In every field with sheep, each ewe has a lamb or two since it's spring here, and the lambs seem to be getting friskier as the days go by. They are quite cute with their undocked tails.
After our group spent the day with their chosen adrenaline activities, lunch, laundry and whatever else, we got together for dinner at a restaurant that serves Kiwi specialties and matches each dish with a recommended ale. Good food and superb ale!
Tomorrow we head to Milford Sound, with a 3 hour hike up to Lake Marian on the way. On this hike "the scenery keeps getting better with each step," according to our itinerary. We had beautiful weather today ... sunny and by afternoon it was long sleeve shirtsleeve weather. Tomorrow they're expecting rain again.
Next time I'm sure to have Internet access is the weekend. After kayaking on Milford Sound, we make our way back to Lake Manapouri, then drive to Mt. Cook, where we stay two nights at a sheep station. On Thursday we hike up towards Mt. Cook, and on Friday we head back to Christchurch, and from there I fly to Tasmania. Cheers!
Pictures are here.
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