A cooler morning with a strong southerly wind dawned as we headed to Queenstown for some retail therapy and an afternoon visiting the historic gold mining town of Arrowtown. As we parked and emerged from the car jackets were definitely the order of the day, next stop was a bakery for hot coffee. Queenstown shopping area is nice and compact - lots of shops selling NZ products - and plenty possum merino products to peruse......needless to say we bought some - a ja...

Today we decided we would drive the few kilometres to Albert Town and then walk the 11 km riverside track to Lake Hawea and back (total 22 km). We left at 0930 ish and returned after a really good walk. The only frustration was a sign about halfway through that said 4 km to go - but it was more like six - and we were getting hungry! When we arrived in Hawea we found a cafe and sat outside drinking a much needed coffee while waiting for our brunch - John had an al...

Today we decided was an exploration by car day so after a quick session in the gym we headed north west towards the West coast and a small settlement called Haast. There was a definite chill in the air and although it got warmer there was still a nip in the wind. The trip took us along the shores of Lake Hawea and then along the upper shores of Lake Wanaka....this lake is really large. Just after the Haast pass we had to sit for 30 minutes as road workers were s...

Jet lag gone so I started the day in the gym - good to start getting my fitness back but exercising with my hand in plaster was interesting - however the cast's hand position made holding the handle bars easy! After breakfast we decided to walk into the town - approximately 30 minutes away and downhill - with fabulous views of the mountains and lake. Enroute I stopped at the medical centre and made an appointment for next Monday - all being well I will finally b...

We were up early after a surprisingly good nights sleep and after breakfast settled up and got a taxi to collect our car from Ace car hire. First stop was a large shopping centre near the airport. We walked around before going to the large New World Supermarket to get our supplies - it is the best stocked supermarket around - but still missing the UK extensive ranges. I spotted a hairdresser - working on a Sunday - so went in for a haircut - I needed something...