Glenorchy

 Monday, March 3

Today was the craziest weather day, we didn't know what to expect!  It started off cloudy with a 90% chance of rain.  We actually only got a sprinkle the entire day, and the sun came out in the afternoon.  We've been really lucky this whole trip.

For our last day here, we didn't really have anything planned for the day.  We ALMOST took a Lord of the Rings tour to see some of the filming locations.  It would have been interesting to see how some of the locations were used, like this field that they turned into Isengard:

Imagecredit: https://www.getyourguide.com/queenstown-l498/glenorchy-half-day-4wd-lord-of-the-rings-tour-t171390/?ranking_uuid=12a9083c-919e-4d2c-91db-547e2fe08c94

But instead of spending $500 for the tour (a bit pricey for a half day tour!), we decided to drive ourselves to Glenorchy.  Frankie only had to tell Anton once that he was driving on the wrong side of the road.  That's the first time all trip, so he did really well!

Glenorchy is a small town (population 410, which we thought was VERY precise LOL), and it took 45 minutes to drive 47 kms, which tells you how hilly and bendy the road was.  But there is really great scenery along the way.  It is apparently one of the most scenic drives in New Zealand.

We started by trying to find the Isengard Lookout ourselves, just past Glenorchy.  But it doesn't quite match the picture above 😕

We explored a bit of the town, including the famous Glenorchy Red Shed at the Glenorchy Wharf.  It's just a boat shed:

They like hedges here in New Zealand:

Mrs. Woolly's General Store was very interesting.  We finally found the Secret Garden that the sign kept teasing:

We found a great website https://newzealandwanderer.com/glenorchy-to-queenstown/#:~:text=How%20long%20should%20I%20spend,create%20a%20memorable%20day%20trip.  that listed stops or viewpoints or hikes between Glenorchy to Queenstown, so we picked some of those.  Of course, we could only do a few of them.  The road is literally called the Glenorchy-Queenstown Road.

We tried to find Little Paradise Wharf.  But instead we found a place that called itself Wild Dream Garden that wanted to charge us $20 each to walk around their personal garden.

Bennett's Bluff Lookout was a pretty major tourist spot:

We did a half hour loop hike at Bob's Cove Track:

A quick stop at Wilson Bay for a picture:

To get to Moke Lake, it required leaving the Glenorchy-Queenstown Road.  Now we were out in the middle of nowhere.  It was about a 7.5 km drive which started off  narrow and paved, and then became gravel with cattle grates (private land).

There is a 2 hour loop that goes around the lake which we thought we might do, but here is where it started to rain and the trail seemed a bit iffy.  So we only did a few sections of it.  Enough to get some spectacular scenery shots.  This is so iconic New Zealand!

We were done with the Glenorchy-Queenstown Road, so we took a side trip north to the historic goldmine town of Arrowtown, population 2930.  What a cute little town!  In 1862, Maori Jack found gold in the Arrow River, and thousands of people flocked here for the goldrush.  We were told it was the second largest in the world after the Klondike.  The government invited Chinese workers here in 1865, and some of their homes are still standing.

Frankie browsed the small public library and noticed she had read quite a few of the books.  But no Freida McFadden, so she recommended the author to the librarian.

We found a nice restaurant and shared a pizza on an outdoor patio:

We were quite impressed with the public toilets.  A voice told us exactly what to do:  Push button to enter.  Push button to close door and lock.  Your maximum use time is 10 minutes.  Toilet will flush when you wash your hands.  Soap, wash, hand dryer.  Push button to unlock door and exit.

Yeah, okay, we are easily amused...

Back to the hotel to shower and pack.  We figure roughly 30 hours door to door????