We awoke to a fresh coat of snow on the mountaintops. It had rained in Q-town overnight. So off we went to Lake Wanaka, our next destination. On the way we stopped a Arrowtown again to visit the Chinese mining camp. Seems the Chinese were as badly treated as they were when they initially came to the US. Then the adventure began. We drove up over the Crown Mountain Range and after many hairpin turns finally through a pass (you can see the picture with Queenstown and the lake way in the distance) to the town of Cardrona (one Inn and a post office-think wild,wild, west). There is a ski area there however. We fortunately did not encounter any snow on the drive. Arriving in Wanaka we scoped out what to do and Cheryl and I decided to do another jet boat ride. This one was much more tame, and took in more scenery. It was on Lake Wanaka and the Clutha River. Can anyone spare a few kidneys for us?
After our return the four of us went to a unique museum, Puzzling World. It is a museum of illusions and puzzles founded by a Brit ski instructor with obviously a lot of time on his hands. It is now quite a popular attraction. The finale is a large maze that can take you hours to figure out. We were able to do it in about an hour. It was a lot of fun, but exhausting.
Off to dinner tonight, and then this weekend is Wanaka days, a large local fair, so we will probably stop there after dinner. The forecast is possibly iffy for our drive over the Haast Pass tomorrow to get to Franz Josef Glacier, some avalanches and slides lately, but we will check it out in the morning.
It’s good I didn’t go through the maze, as I would still be there wondering where and when my next meal would appear. Islander is 90% winterized and so am I.
Fred