Going to NZ part ten (Haast Village to Queenstown)

Hmm.

Haast village, settled on a piece of land near the sea, along the west coast of NZ was near the shoreline, so after dinner (see part nine) that evening, we went to see the coast line. It was very stony, the beach was, and we passed by some sheep farm, and saw more roadkill along the way.

The next morning after an itch-free night, we paid the hotel bill, checked out, and went on on our journey. The town of our next night-stop was Queenstown, which was very near Milford Sound (the eightth wonder of the world). The journey would include travelling down Lake Hawea and onto Wanaka.

Lake Hawea was a pristine body of deep blue waters, mirroring the surrounding hills and the sky. It was cool and breezy that day, so I took out my camera and took some of the most beautiful photos I have ever taken. I believe the two photos I took would have been unmistakeable for those travel photos sold in tourist shops.

Moving onto Wanaka, we discovered that the town was settled next to the lake which shared the same name as the town. The moment we got out of the car, we were treated to some scottish bagpipes played by a couple, sitting next to the lake and joyfully blowing away into their intruments.

While my parents went to inquire for more info at the info station, my brother and I decided to take a walk around town. The town had so many shops we were spoilt for choice, and eventually spent about two hours while waiting for my parents to confirm our Milford Sound ferry tickets.

We came across this shop which sold home decorative items, but also sold Maori necklace carvings. Buying another Hei matau (but this time in cow bone), i attached it to the other two around my neck. My brother favoured a small ring, and we moved on.

The next shop we came across sold various small stones which had mystical properties. I had a feeling it belonged to a pagan, as the shop evoked a sense of the feeling where magick was practised (lots of pictures of greek gods, those 'magical' fonts etc). I bought a haematite ring (iron ore, a stone), and got out of there. And after talking to the owners (two old ladies), I felt that maybe the shop was harmless, just selling polished stones which were frankly very colourful and beautiful.

We drove on to Queenstown after lunch in a cafe in Wanaka, and We passed by Cardrona before reaching the night-stop at 3pm in the afternoon. The town of Queenstown was situated next to a lake, and our hotel was on the outskirts of the town itself, which required a five minute drive just to get into the main shopping area.

The town was equally varied in shops just like Wanaka, and we had dinner at a restaurant cum pub which displayed various farmign tools used long ago by New Zealand farmers. I took to a habit of spinning my haehatite ring on the table and imitating Frodo in LOTR: '...Baggins....(rolls eyes).....Baggins......(fingers the ring).....BAGGINS....' you get the idea.

We went around the town once more and retired to our hotel at night, after watching some local gameshow and the 9 o'clock news.

Cheers,

Crawldaddy