This morning, however, I did a load of laundry after a late breakfast and then headed downtown to explore a bit.
It's been gray this morning but we just ate lunch in our room overlooking the lake and the sun is starting to shine through and the blue sky is popping through the clouds.
This is the downtown area from a small peninsula where there is s nice park.
Here is one of those Hydro Sharks we saw shoot out of the water the other night. It's just waiting to be rented...wanna go? Looks like a rush!
The park in a peninsula and the pigeons - they seem to go together!
Below is William Gilbert Rees - explorer, surveyor and early settler. He is considered the founder of Queensland. 1827-1898
The steamship we rode above and the skyway to the top of the town below.
The view up the Lake - I'm told it is 84 km long and always at about 9 degrees centigrade.
The white spot out on the water is one of the Hydro Sharks...
Below the shark meets the steamship...
That's all for now. Time to eat lunch and take our afternoon tour... more later. Feels good to be all caught up! I'm liking a few hours of down time!
We stopped at a couple of overlooks on our way up to the Lord of the Ring sites.
These are some homes along the lake. AVERAGE in the area is a million dollars! To control growth, you must put down 30%!
Coming out of Queenstown the guide showed us a small elegant luxury spa resort called Matakauri Lodge that was once used by Kate and William for a cost of $23000 a night!
Peter Jackson often stayed atRydges Lakeland Hotel where we are.
Looking towards the end of the lake where 2 creeks/rivers run into the lake.
The tour guide being artsy!
Our tour guide was very knowledgeable - knew the story well, had a notebook in hand to show us pictures of the scenes to refresh our memories, and was easy to listen to. The law in New Zealand is such that movie companies must put everything back the way it came when they started. The only exception is Hobbiton up on North Island. It is on private property and you can take tours there. Most of the sites on South Island were in Mount Aspiring National Park.
The tour guide provided the capes and the swords for photo ops. We were in a forest similar to one in the movie - if you remember in one scene the leaves were golden due to the rays of the son. We were told the children from nearby Glenorchy were actually employed and came out to paint the leaves so they would shine brightly.
These next three pictures are taken from the same spot in three different directions. They all have to do with Isengard in Lord of the Rings.
I believe the first one was where the battle took place.
The second and third....the details are sketchy for me. Where was the tower located!?! On the top of a mound or on flat ground. Who remembers?
The mound in the forefront was important for something.
Now we are at an actual filming site. The spot is now in 12 Mile Delta Campsite on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.
It's the scene where Bilbo Baggins, Gallup, and Frodo make rabbit stew....and I think they argue about the potatoes.
Then they all are on a knoll and see the elephants coming over the plains.
And don't we look cute reenacting the scenes?!?
We got back at suppertime, so we headed downtown to a popular local hamburger joint...
The pictures on one whole wall tell the stories of Fernburger. We are told during peak season the line runs out the door and down the sidewalk from morning til night. Average wait can be 45-60 minutes. We only waited 10! It's just a small place....seats maybe 12-15. There are some benches out on the sidewalk. The younger crown seems to like waiting and eating out there.
The burgers and fries were so big, we just shared one. It was pretty good. We were lucky enough to get seats inside.
It's been a fun day. It started a little later, we weren't with the big group, and there was not nearly as many activities! The only people on the tour with us in the 4 wheel drive were a couple from Madison Wl!
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