On this particular trip, I took a drive out to Glenorchy, and eventually went on to the Paradise area. Glenorchy is about a 45 minute drive (although I think it took me closer to an hour with photo stops, and I was also still getting used to driving on the left at this point).
There is only one road that takes you to Glenorchy from Queenstown, and it goes along the edge of Lake Wakatipu and gives you some absolutely beautiful views! The first day that I arrived in Queenstown, I actually ended up driving on this road for a little bit due to an unfortunate roundabout adventure. At that time, this road felt a bit like a rollercoaster. There were lots of curves, ups and downs, and it was late in the day and I was tired from traveling, and a little worried about driving on the other side of the road. However. This time, I absolutely loved driving on this road! It kept you alert because there were lots of curves and hills as I mentioned before, the views were amazing (my photos cannot do it justice), there were lots of places to stop, get out, take pictures, and so on. Also, possibly because it was so scenic, many people were driving well below the speed limit, so I didn't have to worry about being in the way of other drivers while I was being cautious getting used to this style of driving.
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| You can see the road I drove on a little in this one, maybe get an idea of how it goes... |
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| Photo stops along the way |
There were also quite a few turnoffs that indicated there were some hiking trails in the vicinity. I kept those in mind for another day...
When I arrived in Glenorchy, it was close to lunch time, so, I stopped at a cafe for a bit before walking down to the lake (the town itself is quite small and although it is the base for some tours, it doesn't actually have a lot of things to do or see), and then taking a short hour long walk around the Glenorchy Walkway. That took me on a walk through a boardwalked wetland/lagoon area. It was a bit quiet and I didn't see so many people, but again, there were some good views and it was relaxing to just walk and listen to the birds.
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| Lake Wakatipu from Glenorchy |
If the video doesn't work, click here to watch.
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| This is how the Glenorchy Walkway started.. |
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| There was lupin everywhere! |
Glenorchy walkway...turn on the volume to listen to the birds!
If the video doesn't work, click here to watch.
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| There were a few places like this along the way to sit and enjoy the view. Most of them had picnic tables not just benches. |
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| Reflection.... |
If the video doesn't work, click here to watch.
After that walk, I hopped back into my car and got myself on the road to Paradise. Along the way, there were also a couple places to stop and enjoy the views. One of the places I stopped was called Diamond Lake. It was very pretty but there were thousands of little midges (or something similar) and I didn't have bug spray or anything like that, so I didn't stay there so long.
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| These were all taken at Diamond Lake |
I had a lot of fun driving on this road to Paradise. Soon after I got out of Glenorchy, the road turned from pavement to gravel (by the end of the day the little white car was more brown than white). It was a quite pretty drive. You drove through some farmland areas, saw cows, sheep, horses, but also there were mountains in the background. I loved it! Again, there weren't so many people around, although there were a few Lord of the Rings tour 4WD vehicles that tended to rip by. Every time I saw how fast they went, I was so glad that I made the choice to rent a car, because I could go slowly and enjoy the views, or stop and get out to take pictures wherever I wanted (as long as I could find a spot to pull over...). According to my map, some of the area that I drove through was the "Forest of Middle Earth", which is probably part of why those tour vehicles were driving by.
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| Just a lonely horse on a hill |
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| A vehicle had just driven by, so there's a bit of a dust cloud... |
My original plan for driving along the Paradise road, was to go to a hiking area at the end of it, or see where it took me, whichever seemed more interesting. At one point I thought I wouldn't be able to go any further, because there was an extremely large and deep puddle crossing the whole road. When the 4WDs went through it, the water went over the top of their wheels, and my little car was lower to the ground than that so I didn't want to try to go through it. In that location, it was really pretty so I stayed for a bit and had a snack, and during that time, some other cars came up, saw the puddle, got out, tested with sticks and rocks and so on and also decided they couldn't go through, but they did find an area beside the road they could drive on where there was much less water. After watching a couple cars do it, I decided I could probably do that too, and I could! So I was on my way!
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| The 'puddle' in question...or giant pothole if you prefer |
Not long after, I ended up in the forest, and there was yet another of these puddles. This one looked deeper than the first, and it was surrounded by trees, so no driving by that one. That ended my trip through Paradise. I turned around and went back down the road I came on.
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| Into the forest! |
I didn't go back to Queenstown yet though. Too early for that! Instead, I took another road west (drove past Isengard), drove past more places you could hike (Lake Sylvan looked interesting, but I didn't have enough time for a 2 hour hike...it was already close to 5pm when I got there).
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| It's hard to tell, but there were some waterfalls |
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| All of these were on the road going west |
I ended up at the Routeburn Track, a huge hiking area, and according to the man at the information center, you can walk here for 10 minutes or days. I hadn't really been planning on going hiking that day, so I wasn't really prepared for a long hike and didn't have a lot of food or water either. So I just spent 45 minutes to an hour taking one of the shorter loop tracks before eventually heading back to Queenstown.
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| Normally I would choose the longer routes, but this time, just the Nature walk. |
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| Just a random heart rock against a tree... |
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| Hehehe...fun! |
On the way back to Queenstown, I pulled into an area along the Dart River for a couple more photos before heading back...
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| Views on the Dart River shore |
I absolutely loved this day, and I'm really glad I took the recommendation of the old man from Christmas Eve to go here! This drive, with all it's curves, hills and gravel roads also helped me to get comfortable with my little car and the whole left side driving thing. (Still hit wipers instead of signals though 😜). If I had the chance to go back to this area, I would definitely do this drive again, but leave earlier so there was more time for more hiking! If you go to Queenstown, do it!!!
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| Maybe the waterfalls are easier to see on the way back? Or not.... |
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New Zealand trip posts: | Part 1: Christchurch | Part 2: Queenstown | Part 3: Glenorchy and Paradise | Part 4: Wanaka | Part 5: Hikes | Part 6: Invercargill | Part 7: Moeraki Boulders | Part 8 Coming soon!
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New Zealand trip posts: | Part 1: Christchurch | Part 2: Queenstown | Part 3: Glenorchy and Paradise | Part 4: Wanaka | Part 5: Hikes | Part 6: Invercargill | Part 7: Moeraki Boulders | Part 8 Coming soon!
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