johnp's blog

Te Anau to Queenstown

December 18th, 2009

As it was a relatively short 2 hour ride we took some time to wander around Te Anau and see the fjordland movie well worth the 30 minutes. By the time we had loaded up the wind had really picked up and yet again we found the bike buffetted into on coming traffic. Luckily, as there were so few cars around, there was plenty of time to wrestle the Pan back across the road. An oncoming police patrol car helpfully gestured to me about the speed the Pan was doing. A few miles further on, we passed the radar trap highway patrol without incident. We stopped at Garston, NZ’s most inland village. We ate fantastic home baked pies in the Garston hotel and the Pan was much admired by the local ladies (unfortunately not it’s rider!). We set off along great sweeping roads around the edge of Lake Wakatipu and stopped
half way at the “Devil’s Staircase” for photos. The lake is, in legend, the shape of a giant sleeping on his side. It’s so deep the bottom is below sea level despite being far from the coast. The level of the lake varies due to the beating of the giants heart (or barometric pressure if you lke) We were welcomed with tea and biscuits by Isobel and Gordon at the Stables B&B, the 2nd oldest buding in Queenstown, built in 1870. Lorna had a free meal that evening in a Queenstown restaurant after discovering cling film in her salad. Photos of the Stables and Lake Wakatipu with the oldest steamer in the southern hemisphere.

Entry Filed under: New Zealand,Uncategorized,motorbikes