Aspiring Campervan Park, 263 Studholme Rd, $65 for kitchen cabin
Monday, March 4: Cloudy at first, short rain bursts and some drizzle near the glaciers, clearing
GPS Tour
Was up bright and early and down into town to solve the “hot shoe/quick release” problem. The Kodak place did have one, but not the right size. Dick Smith had an ultra light tripod which automatically unfolds (0.6 kg) but was nearly $60 so I opted for the cheapest one from the Warehouse. Not bad, has two spirit levels and is quite tall so that I can stand, rather than stoop, crouch or squat, while using it.
Go to jail, Ross.
This was to be a day for driving. Couldn’t identify the old motorcamp to the south of Greymouth (closed down?) and stopped briefly in Hokitika for refuelling. Then on to Ross where I had a brief walk around the goldfields and took a first bracket with the new tripod. Then in one go down to the glaciers, stopping in Fox for my sandwiches. Not much sense in driving out to Lake Matheson, so I continued on to see if I could catch the stuff I missed in 2009. Brief stop at the lake in Paringa, ditto at Moeraki, but no memories, then after Knights Point there was still the major rockfall, although most of the rock that had fallen onto the road had been blasted and removed, the detour was still in place and work remains to be done. Perhaps another earthquake somewhere had made the necessary equipment scarce.
Up Ship Creek. View from the observation tower
After that Ship Creek turned up & a couple of photos were shot. The waterfall near the top of Haast Pass was very dry and not worth taking a picture of; stopped briefly afterwards for some shots of a sign, the scenery and one of the waterfalls that would have given Juicy Lucy a car wash on the previous visit.
| GPS Tour: Ross Goldmine Walkway |
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Was finally in Wanaka about 7:00. Looked around town for some money and a motorcamp with at least free internet – the BBH places were all double rooms or above. Petrol is at least 10 c/L more expensive, and most other things are more expensive, too. Got a cabin booked and was walking back to the car when I heard, “Lee, Lee!” It was Patrick and Simone. Sat down with them for a bit – could have spent the whole evening with them. Patrick has really discovered astrophotography. But I had to secure my bed for the night so I left them at their lakeside pub for their meal.
Motorcamp was a little out of town, and the cabin sits very lonely on the hill. Went back into town for a Chinese pizza with salami, capsicums, onions, mushrooms and olives for $12 – totally overladen on a non-Italian dough base, but it will keep body and soul together. Back here the kitchen/TV room was very loud and uncomfortable for using a computer, so I returned to my cabin and am writing standing at the kitchen “bar” while the picture processing is chugging away.
Think I will try one night in Queenstown at the Alpine tomorrow; possibly visit Puzzling World before leaving in the morning, and walk near Queenstown on Wednesday, then it’ll be time for Te Anau.
