Welcome to the third instalment of New Zealand: The Sights - Otago. Waving Wanaka goodbye, we moved onto our next and final locale of Queenstown. In the hour's drive to, I was in for a splendid drive with fantastic morning light and a supreme driving experience (mmmff, those hairpins).
Curious as a George, we went out of our way to head up Coronet Peak. Boooy, was that a mistake and a half. Simply wanting a sweet aerial view, I was gifted an agonising amount of frustration instead. Having one too many positives, it was about time I was back on the receiving end of shit.
Only gushing at the light moments before, I was now dreading it after a complete 180. Without a wisp of cloud in the sky, I was staring at blindness as the rising sun burned a hole in my corneas (with sunglasses on). Compounding onto this, we had our typical amateur hour with drivers who apparently have never actually been on the road before. With one hand on the wheel and the other waving about in attempt at blocking out the sun, I was teetering on insanity with the constant stopping every half second.
But wait! There's more! Nearing the top, things came to a grinding halt. Waiting for what felt like forever, we had to sit in line for a chance to find a parking space. Each passing minute gave us a fraction of an inch to go forward. Finally directed to an area, it was time to find a spot. How hard could it be... Making several loops, weaving in and out the tight spaces, I gave up and just made my own space. Whether it made the path an even tighter squeeze, we'll never know...
Did my perseverance and patience pay off? nheeeh I didn't hate the views, so there's that.
Queenstown, our last township for the trip. As we've progressed through our journey, each locale has outgrown the last and we've now reached the final form. More to eat and more to treat (yo'self), Queenstown had a lot on offer. Most of which we passed on because sights not buys. However, with what little time we did spend here, I did find it enjoyable. Akin to the vibe in Adelaide, it's like I never left home.
That said, I still have my gripes. Bagging the number one spot: shitty drivers. Every time I travelled to the city, there'd be a blood boiling encounter without fail. Take this common example: there's a road that has a slight turn no more than ten degrees but for some odd reason people just love to tap slam that brake. AND we were already chugging at a slow pace of 50km/h (if you can even call it that). As previously commented in Wanaka, the expansion does invite more people which was mainly a hindrance for places to eat. My peeve on parking spaces were alleviated with more parking complexes available (some at reasonable prices). Other than that, a great place!
Thinking it was important to have some down time after continuous hikes, Carolyn booked us in for a lil spa session at Onsen Hot Pools. Do note that spots fill up fast so you'll need to book months in advanced for a chance. Since it was Carolyn's choosing, I left it all up to her bad move /jk. Each booth faced the valley and river, providing that picture perfect (read basic bitch) ig moment. And the experience... was nice, but it's no different to any other spa I've been to (A.A.C represent).
North of Lake Wakatipu was Glenorchy, our first visit of the new day. Driving to, the experience wasn't as fun as previous drives with road conditions ranging from meagre to craptastic. As for the place itself, it was aight. The only? point of attraction - Glenorchy wharf - offered some lovely views and the surrounding area wasn't too shabby.
Purple boardies was ballsy enough to take a dip in the freezing waters
Closing out the day, we found ourselves at Moke Lake, one of my favourite spots in the Queenstown area. The driving conditions were absolutely terrible with sludgy, pothole riddled roads. However, it wasn't all unpleasant as the views were well worth the tip-toe driving. Making things infinitely better, there were only a handful of others enjoying this serene sight. Noice.
I was playing with fire trying to feed these little duckies. Having some leftovers in the car, I decided to share my love of New Zealand's finest foods. It started off with a couple of ducks happily munching away at the little scraps. Then more started to flock in and, slowly, things started to get a bit more aggressive. Not only with each other but with myself as well... They didn't attack me or anything but with how close they were and how fast they followed me, I was preeeetty damn worried.
Another thing to worry about was how my trip was coming to end. Thank you for reading and join me next time as we close out this fantastic journey.