3 February 2014-
Up a creek without a paddle???
Crikey!
LOL….I saw this sign on my morning jog:
The sand flies are getting the better of us. Time to MOVE and HEAD OUT. We're making our way to Queenstown.
Had to stop and check out this waterfall.
Quick! Grab a photo NOW. Time to run away from the darn sand flies!
Back on the road…I spy snow on those craggly looking mountains!
Awww….yeah. Loving the blue skies, mountains, green trees and a meandering river:
It's time for lunch! We just decided that just up ahead would be an excellent rest-stop:
Whatcha think? We pulled off the road (with our lumbering Beast) and Beth and I created a picnic lunch. Oh, how I love traveling with a miniature fridge!
Beth, Ray and me in front of their campervan:
Lily and Ava exploring the river and river rocks:
Hi, Annika!
Whoops! I think that water was a little deeper than what the girls had expected:
Queen of the World! (not. But it was fun for a second to think that standing on top the gigantic pile of rocks):
Beth, was that really a comfy spot for a snooze???
Ah, yes.
I don't think I've mentioned yet about Henry's diabetes. Henry was diagnosed with diabetes soon after the girls and I left the USA this past summer. Henry, Beth and Ray have had to go through a steep learning curve dealing with his condition. There are so many things I want to say: first, I'm so proud of our family for not shying away from this huge trip. I'm very thankful to Beth for struggling with the endless phone calls and dealing with medical insurance to ensure they had the proper medication. I'm thankful for being part of a family that doesn't whine and cry in the face of adversity. Dealing with Henry's diabetes certainly has posed a new challenge but Beth is amazing! (as is Ray!) While there is now a new reality for Henry as shown below (blood sugar level check) I can say that diabetes hasn't slowed him down one little bit! He's still the same spunky sweet boy!
Henry and Ava. On a log.
The Minions kids ran all over the place…exploring the river, looking at the rocks, enjoying the scenery.
And of course, eating our picnic lunch:
PS. No sand flies! Woo Hoooo!!!!
That water could have been a TAD warmer. Eep.
Gregory with his staff:
How about we just build a house along side the river and stay here forever? Sounds good to me!
Awwwww….darn. Time to hit the road! We are hoping to get to Queenstown as we managed to book the last two campsites at one of the campgrounds there. (this is the first time we realized how important booking ahead for campsites was!)
I think this is either Lake Hawea but it could very well be Lake Wanaka:
The Mearses posing:
Gorgeous!
This scenery reminds me of some parts of Alaska…. of some of the mountain passes I've driven through ages ago (the drive to Circle Hot Springs). I love the ruggedness of the mountains!
Whoa….flatland!
And the switch-back roads to get us to the bottom: (PS I'm sooooooooo glad I'm not the one steering the Beast!!!! Thank you Mark for driving us!)
We're a bunch of Lord of the Rings fans (some of us more than others ;-))…you may or may not know that about us. So…when Beth saw that there were LOTR and Hobbit film locations close to Queenstown, guess what? We had to go find them! One of the locations was in Arrowtown next to the river. Thankfully, that particular location was easy to get to. But first, let's take a quick peek at Arrowtown – it's a super cute town. One of the streets was lined with small shops (mostly souvenir shops) plus several restaurants.
And our gang found the….ice cream shop! (of course we did! It was a really warm day – perfect for ice cream!)
Ooooooo….and the candy shop. It was pretty tricky getting the kids out of this store!
Very close to where we parked The Beast was a river location from -I think- the first LOTR movie. I think the scene was when Arwen crosses over the river with Frodo on the horse (while I love the movies and the books I'm obviously not up on all the proper terminology and location names! LOL.):
Our kiddos building a dam: I gotta hand it to our kids – they do know how to do creative and imaginative play!
LUPINE!!!! ("Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore…dum,dum, dum, dee, dum…." or something like that anyway. Know where that comes from?)
Okay….Arrowtown is super cute but we still have a little bit left to drive to get to Queenstown. We're almost – but not quite- there. Plus, there's another film location we want to try and find. (Do you know how challenging it is finding these film locations? Too bad there isn't a sign stating where things were filmed. We were on the internet with our phones trying to pinpoint various locations.)
And here's a different river location also from the first LOTR movie. To get to this particular scene Mark (thank goodness it was him driving and not me!) drove the lumbering Beast up a *very* narrow dirt road…with a steep cliff/hill on one side. Yikes!
And check out that cool bridge:
Is there a person jumping from that bridge or not? Can't tell.
Can you picture this scenery at the end of the first LOTR? I think I can.
PS. We're standing on a bridge you can bungy jump from!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaa!!!!! Sadly, we couldn't try even if we wanted to as there was some big party happening. We were allowed to walk on the bridge and take photos. Time to let the Beast take a nap. It's been a long day and I think we could all use a good night's sleep.
The main office of the Queenstown campground:
This place TOTALLY reminds me of Alaska! Lots of flowers EVERYWHERE. Plus, this campground is very unique – it's got a lot of quirky, interesting and fun art incorporated into the common areas. I LOVE this place!
I'm not leaving.
Good night!