After some intense diagnosis, I can report that my camera problem from yesterday is due to a faulty memory card. I’ll have to wait and see if I can retrieve any images from it when I get back home. Everything seems to more be back to normal now that I have replaced it.
We left Te Anau in good time this morning for the comfortable two hour drive to Queenstown. Our first way-point was the at Mossburn which is reported to be the venison capital of the world. New Zealand’s first deer farm was established there in 1972. The deer industry is the biggest employer in the township. We saw many paddocks with deer fencing but many were unoccupied. Perhaps they have so been eaten. The countryside was interesting with its broad valley and rolling hills.
Our next stop was at Lumsden, a farm service centre for the western Waimea Plains, 84 km north of Invercargill. European settlers took up land in the district from 1861. Railway lines reached Lumsden from Invercargill in 1878 and Gore in 1880, and the town became a rail junction. Rail services stopped in 1971, but the station building remains a major feature. All that is left now are some rusting relics of the railway days.
We have seen this crop in many places but don’t know what it it is. It seems to be some sort of food for livestock – perhaps turnips, but if anyone can identify it, our curiosity would be settled.
There were a number of small settlements on the way but the one that struck us was the town of Athol. It had a unique war memorial in the form of a seat on which you could sit and contemplate the loss of life that occurred in WW1.
It is obviously time for shearing sheep here. Many properties had large numbers of sheep penned ready to be shorn.
We stopped for lunch at the town of Kingston at the bottom end of Lake Wakatipu. It was the terminus for the famed Kingston Flyer train. This little railway ran into economic difficulties some years ago but was sold to new owners in 2018. At least by the state of the quaint little station, it now seems to be in good shape. It runs every Sunday between Kingston and the town of Fairlight, about 18kms to the south.
The road from Kingston to Queenstown follows the shoreline of Lake Wakatipu. This lake has steep mountains on both sides and these give it a spectacular appearance. We stopped at several spots to take photos.
We reached Queenstown by early afternoon and then went for a walk along the harbour front. It was a warm day and many people were out, enjoying the sun.
I managed to do a little shopping for a new jumper. I really like NZ’s possum / merino knitware as it is warm and very light in weight.
I have been here on a number of occasions. The last time was after my trip to the sub Antarctic islands when I caught Covid. I had to quarantine in a hotel here for a few days before I could fly home.
Late in the afternoon, we spent some time wandering along the foreshore taking in all the activity of the bars, cafes and vendors selling cherries, jewellery and various things to eat. This place was alive with activity.
The beach was very popular with many people sun baking. Jill suggested that I should take a photo of one of the gulls that were perching on the harbour wall.
Did you notice that the gull actually has a black coloured eye.
What gull?