Queenstown

We drove for the day through lupine covered valleys, forested foothills, towering alps in the background, dark clouds skittering across the sky, eventually enveloping the alps as well the sky. We traveled through rain and wind and….actually, no snow or sleet or gloom of night, thank goodness. The scenery was spectacular and breathtaking in places. We arrived in Queenstown late in the afternoon. Ah…Queenstown, the southern island’s tourist haven, the jumping off point for many excursions, and the home of hundred’s of touristy shops just waiting for the camera-toting tourist’s wallet. We did find a great Mexican restaurant there – they had just about everything there to satisfy a tourist from any part of the world.

We stayed in a great B&B called “Little Paradise”. It was quite a ways outside of Queenstown, nestled off a quiet, peaceful lake. The man who ran this place definitely has too much time on his hands…or else he loves his hobby. The woodwork in the place was stunning. Large wooden carved ferns and other plants were placed about the walls in the bathroom and hallways. Moss and small plants were artfully placed about the branches of trees and various carvings. The floor, rather than being made of stones or rocks or whatever, was actually made of polished wood blocks, creatively inlaid throughout the place. The yard was the picture of an English garden with flowers erupting everywhere. We were also right on the 45th parallel – complete with a sign to let us know (now, Jeff had to check and his GPS said that it was actually marked at 45.00005 S)