Introduction to today's journey
Today's journey starts with a cruise on a modern boat across Lake Wakatipu to Nicolas Peak Farm before returning to the town and exploring the lake foreshore. In the afternoon I cruise across the lake again, this time in the historic Earnslaw. I return in the late afternoon and head up the mountain by gondola to watch the spectacular sunset.
Today's Journey
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The harbour on the shore of Lake Wakatipu with The Remarkables in the background in the early morning as I await the arrival of the boat for the first of two cruises today. |
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Cruising out into the lake on a fast twin hulled boat passing the high glacial carved mountains. |
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Sailing up Lake Wakatipu with the mountains of Mount Aspiring National Park in the distance. This was a huge glacial valley carving out the now 400 metre deep lake. Tomorrow I will be heading to the mountains to the left to start the Routeburn Track. The lake is 84 kilometres long - New Zealand's longest lake. |
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Reaching the port of Mount Nicholas Station where we briefly stop before returning to Queenstown. These farms do not have good road access, so they have for many years been serviced by boat. In recent decades, a couple of the farms have turned to tourism for better income. |
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Exploring the foreshore of the crystal clear Lake Wakatipu in front of the city. The lake has a 20 centimetre tide every 14 minutes. |
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Heading out onto the peninsula walkway looking down to the end of the lake where the glacier once ended in Kingston. |
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Returning to Queenstown I take the historic M.V. Earnslaw across the lake. This steamship was built in 1912 and serviced the farms and villages around lake before roads were built along the Queenstown side. It has now been repurposed into a tourist boat. |
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Reaching the Walter Peak Farm where we drop of a lot of tourists before cruising back into Queenstown. |
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I head up the mountain above the city in the gondola to watch a spectacular sunset over the mountains. |
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As the sky grows dark the lights of Queenstown come on. Behind the city is The Remarkables, named as it is the only mountain range in New Zealand running in a north-south direction. |
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