Mountains, mountains and more mountains

An early morning view, from Collinson's Cottage, of a mountain range.  Treble Cone,  the mountain on the left, has a skiing area.  Closed for the summer period.

The snow on Roy's Peak has virtually disappeared.  A beautifully clear view of the peak and plenty of frost on the ground.  Not good for the young plants.

After a delicious cup of coffee, we reluctantly said goodbye to Brian and Susanne, and set off, direction Invercargill.

We drove out of Wanaka, past the old Luggate pub, great food there, alongside the man made Lake Dunstan, and past the new town of Cromwell, with the old one deep underneath the water.

Then on to the road which runs alongside the gorge, old goldmining country.

A very stark and dry area.  Not sign of vegetation on the surrounding hills.

We drove past Arrowtown, always a sweet little place but now very touristy.  The town council has not allowed the borders to be developed into sprawling surburbia.

But not so further down the road, where we passed the beautiful and reflective Lake Hayes on the right and the flat skiing slopes of Coronet Peak above it.   On the left hand side of the road, there is a large housing estate, alongside the Shotover River, which appears to continue all the way to the massive commercial development on the edge of Frankton, near the airport.   Roadworks everywhere.  Where do they get all the people from, who intend to live here, and shop, but I guess the thriving tourist industry contributes to the development.

We also bypassed Queenstown, just too over developed.

The Remarkables, a magnificant range of mountains that runs alongside Lake Wakatipu.  Always changing colour.

We drove around the lake, on the twisting road, towards Kingston at the end of the lake.

And then we were caught in the Tour of Southland.  Quite exciting.  The peloton heading towards us, very quickly.

Looking back at the snow tipped mountains towering above Lake Wakatipu.

We ate lunch at the cafe in Kingston, before driving through green farmland, both dairy and sheep, plus small towns until we finally reached Wallacetown, about 10 kms from Invercargill.  Great to be there.

And I must not forget the giant hokey pokey icecreams we bought at one small store.  Yummy.