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Once east of Haast Pass, the highway skirts the shore of beautiful Lake Wanaka:
Hardly accustomed to this pretty sight on the right side of the highway, travelers are soon treated to Lake Hawea on the left:
These lakes are BIG. Moving the camera to the right shows more of Lake Hawea but still without showing all of it. (Lake Hawea was enlarged in the 1950’s by dam construction to generate more electricity -- we’re not sure if that is also true of Lake Wanaka.)
We marveled at the lack of traffic on the highway as well as on these lakes.
The lakefront at Wanaka made for a pleasant travel break and the ice cream is to be recommended:
From Wanaka we chose to take the shortest route to Queenstown past Cardrona. This photo shows the “heavy” traffic on this scenic stretch:
There were many of these tall trees in this area; judging from photos we’ve seen, they are very colorful in autumn:
The “downside” of this pretty route is the steep, winding descent into Queenstown. Here in the distance, Queenstown is just perceptible on Lake Wakatipu:
However, the dropping highway provides lovely vistas of the valley below:
Queenstown bustles in the summer season with heavy traffic that somewhat spoils its fantastic lakeside setting. For us, one night was enough but perhaps quieter lodgings might have changed our impression. Here are two shots taken in this “Adventure Capital of New Zealand”:
Not into bungee-jumping, hang gliding, parasailing, or even jet-boating, we opted for a gondola ride to the lookout atop Bob’s Peak:
From the summit the view of Queenstown, the Remarkables Mountain range and Lake Wakatipu is impressive:
