Last Day in NZ

Our last day in the land of the Kiwis. Many people believe New Zealanders are called "Kiwis" because of the endangered flightless bird that lives here. That's only indirectly true. The nickname was popularized by the Americans during WWII because the NZ soldiers used Kiwi boot polish. The polish was indeed named after the bird, with an image of same on the can, BUT the company was started by an American in tribute to his New Zealander wife!
We were up and packed and ready to go by 10:30. Had to stop and take one final picture of Lake Wanaka as there was a nice band of clouds lying across the range at the end of the lake.

We took the long route to Queenstown, through Cromwell and miles of wine country. It is not such a harrowing drive as going over the switchbacks of the Crown Range but still offers some lovely scenery going through the Kawarau Gorge. Here is a picture of the Kawarau River as it is joined by the "Roaring Meg" stream (ostensibly named after a noisy prostitute in the gold mining era) --they combine to power a small hydro-electric station. Beautiful color of water...

Arrowtown itself is surrounded by sizable hills--isn't everything on the South Island?!  We had lunch in a nice outdoor garden and then strolled around.

It was originally a gold mining town. Hal stands by the spot where gold was first discovered.

There was also a substantial influx of Chinese when gold was discovered; they established a small community in Arrowtown and are still a significant portion of the population.

Much like Sisters, Oregon, they have attempted to maintain the original flavor of the town with the storefronts.

As with any tourist town, lots of tempting opportunities for shopping. We bought a piece of "greenstone" for Mickey at the local jade and opal shop, but refrained from bringing home any sheepskins!

Finally, it was time to drive to Queenstown, fill up the car ($9.00 a gallon), and get to the airport. We couldn't resist digging out the camera to document the formidable trip that lay ahead ;-)

Our route took us from Queenstown to Auckland, then to Vancouver, BC, and finally to Portland. Not fun going through customs two times in Vancouver--note to self, never do THAT again. Finally arrived back on U.S. soil at 3:20 pm on the 17th--about an hour BEFORE we left Queenstown (i.e., 4:40 pm on the 17th). Time travel IS possible!
My appreciations to that small band of "followers" who virtually accompanied us on our journey--you know who you are...