Final Installment

On the final morning of our trip we took the Skyline Gondola to see the spectacular views over Queenstown, The Remarkables (mountain range) and Lake Wakatipu. It was a beautiful day so the panoramic views were very clear. We had a short walk around and I was quite excited as for the first time in real life I saw those large, red toadstools with white spots that fairies live under in stories! I was going to take a photo to put on the blog but that would just be like you seeing them in a story book so I didn't bother. Neil is looking forward to a return visit because we didn't ride the luge on this occasion and the small, toboggan like vehicles look great fun! We'd both definitely return to Queenstown, not least to see the surrounding mountains covered in snow which must look awesome.
Leaving Sarah in town as she was catching a coach further south, we began our 500km journey home. We had an amazing day as we drove through incredibally diverse landscapes including valleys of vineyards and orchards in Otago to barren, moor-like peaks in Lindis Pass and then gentle rolling hills and fields of cattle & sheep through South Canterbury. The weather remained glorious but we were aware of a front moving up from the south which was bringing with it a severe weather warning for snow! The highlight of the journey has to have been the view across Lake Pukaki. I had been navigating and making an attempt at pointing out key mountain peaks and ranges but Neil was losing confidence as I repeatedly said "No, that can't be Mount X it must be Mount Y" or "Now, maybe that's Mount X, not the previous three peaks I've pointed out"! Well, the ultimate clanger came as we were driving north towards Lake Pukaki. I had read that, on a clear day, the views of Mount Cook (the highest mountain in NZ) were supposed to be stunning so as more of the mountain range came into view I was trying to determine which was Mount Cook. I'd start by saying "That looks like it must be it, it's taller than the others", then we'd drive further, more of the range would come into view and there'd be another higher peak which then became 'Mount Cook'. This happened enough times for me to conclude we weren't going to be able to ascertain which mountain was Cook when we suddenly came around the last bend and viewed the whole of the range across the lake. "Oh, that's Mount Cook!"- it was massive and SO much taller than the surrounding peaks in the range. It really did look stunning. And on returning home we spoke to several Kiwis who have never seen the mountain because the weather has never allowed - we felt very blessed.
The final place we stopped at was Lake Tekapo, the waters of which can apparantly look almost electric blue though not on this occasion. But there is a tiny church, the Church of the Good Shepherd, that is built on the shores of the lake; it can seat about 30 people but is a popular tourist attraction because the view across the lake from the window behind the altar is amazing. I'm not sure I'd concentrate if I regularly worshipped there!
The final stage of the 7 hour journey took us through familiar countryside (well, we'd driven it once before on the way back from Summer Wine!) and as the sun set all we could think about was getting home before the fish and chip shop closed - it was nearly 8pm which could have been pushing it!