5,500 kms ahead of us

Breakfast in bed this morning. Andy went out to get croissants and coffee.

We pottered about and then got the 10:30 water taxi to Queenstown. We got there at 11.15 and had just over three hours to ourselves.

Queenstown is exactly what you’d expect it to be – a town full of companies selling all sorts of outdoor activities; lots of outdoor clothing shops, bars and restaurants.

The very first thing we did was to both get haircuts – much needed. After that, we shopped for essentials – a new hard drive, a camera strap, flip flops for Andy and the most amazingly fleecy North Face trousers for me (not so much a necessity this one, more like a treat).

We had lunch at Rehab – natural and healthy food – with equally healthy smoothies.

At 14:30, we were at the meeting point… ready to meet our tour leader. For the next four weeks, we’re travelling with Flying Kiwi. The group was extremely welcoming as we boarded the bus.

Our first stop was at Countdown – the main supermarket brand in NZ. And then we were on our way.

An hour into our journey, we stopped at Jackson Orchards – a fruit and vegetable place. This was partly a convenience stop but the real star of the show was ice-cream made from real fruit. Hmmm…. Yummy.

The next stop was at the Hāwea Lake look out. Wow. If that’s a taste of things to come, we’re in for a real treat. The scenery’s so big, it was difficult to take it all in. Driving along the lake, we could have made many more photo stops as the view kept changing.

Only one kilometre separates Lake Hāwea and Lake Wanaka; this is referred to as the Neck.

We arrived at Boundary Creek – our campsite for the night. We’ve only got two nights camping (we’ve upgraded wherever possible) and tonight is one of them. This is a bush camp. No electricity and no showers… and plenty of sandflies. Andy and I tried to put our tent up (we’re so out of practice) and one of our new travel companions took pity on us and gave us a hand. And once we’d settled in, we wandered down to the beach.

So so pretty.

The light’s extremely clear. Stony beach. Driftwood on the shore. Shadows on the hills opposite us. The colours of the sky reflecting in the water. The creek.

We stayed there until we got called up for dinner. There’s a rota in place for cooking and washing up.

We decided to turn in early tonight and walked back to our tent. Andy spotted the Southern Cross in the sky. We think this is our first ever spotting of it. As soon as we got settled, I needed to get up again. Such a faff. But with no light pollution whatsoever, I got treated to the most fantastic star show ever.

From the Hilton to a bush camp.