Today we drove through "Lord of the Rings" country. Of course all NZ was probably used in one scene or another of the trilogy, but much of LOTR was filmed in the Lake Wakatipu area.

Our first stop was at Arrowtown. Arrowtown was a gold mining settlement in the 1860s and it has been restored. It is a quaint little town full of shops and restaurants. We enjoyed our coffee break at the town bakery.

Then we went to Queenstown which bills itself as the "adventure capital of the world." There are many opportunities for excitement in Queenstown; a few options are bungy jumping, hot air ballooning, jet boating, white water rafting, paragliding, biking, skiing, and mountain climbing. We chose to visit the Queenstown Gardens and walk through the town and along the lake. That's enough excitement for us.

Lake Wakatipu is roughly shaped like a very large S, and we've now traveled the length of it. A few days ago we traveled along the shore to the bottom of the S as we went south to Manapouri to visit Doubtful Sound. Today we drove up the S to Glenorchy. Glenorchy is the beginning of one of the "Great Walks" in NZ, the Routeburn Track., which is described as a 40km 3 day walk through stunning alpine scenery. It is understandable why hiking and backpacking are so popular here.