2nd January
It rained all night and was still drizzly & wet in the morning. I felt sorry for the people in tents. I don't know if the rain increases or decreases the amount of sand flies. I have been bitten to bits by them, particularly around my ankles - little buggers! - so itchy & hard to resist the temptation to scratch.
I left for Queenstown, where I had booked the campsite for two nights. On arrival - slightly earlier than the check in time - they said I couldn't just park up & wait - they wanted to charge $15 dollars for that, so I parked in a free street that I found round the corner. In hindsight I probably could have stayed there for free - but slightly risky in a busy town with a big orange sticker on the side of the camper advertising - harder to be stealthy!
The supermarket was close by, so I did my shopping and then went back to the campsite to check in. The campsite is nice and kind of quirky.
I did some washing, filled my water bottles and then headed out to explore the town
Queenstown is like an alpine town, set amongst the mountains next to the lake - with the style of buildings, ski shops and cable car climbing the mountainside - I felt like I was in the Swiss alps. You can ski here in the winter in nearby Cardrona, New Zealand's biggest ski resort.
The place was buzzing. There was a wharf with restaurants and bars and street trading stalls with gifts, jewellery and food. It was very 'boutique'. It also felt a bit Christmassy.
I sat by the lake - another glacial lake and the third biggest lake in New Zealand, the second being Te Anau and the biggest - Lake Taupo in the north Island which I had driven round part of.
I then had a walk in the gardens, which had a beautiful rose garden.
I returned to the campsite to cook my tea and have a shower at last - not having been able to have one for a few days!
Then an early night before my trip tomorrow.
There seems to be a country wide programme to preserve & restore the natural state of New Zealand. On the way to Queenstown today I stopped off here, where they are working to return the hillside to how it should be.
Most of New Zealand's indigenous wildlife was, and has been, destroyed by introduced animals and those that came accidentally, like rats from ships.
So - they are extremely up on bio-security. There are many signs urging people to clean & check their boat & fishing gear, to stop the spread of unwanted pests & plants
There are many traps for rats & possums, which are a big problem because they destroy the birdlife, which is important for spreading plant & tree seeds etc.
One controversial thing is the laying of poison - called 1080 - which councils are using to erradicate certain animals.
The trouble is, it can be consumed by the wildlife they want to keep & also poisons the waterways, making clean mountain water unsafe to drink.
I think the biggest pest is the human - there are measures in place to reduce harm from this one - the strict camping rules, for one.
Sheep & Cows are not indigenous either, and I believe they are trying to balance the amount of farming with conservation.
In Queenstown there is a statue of a Moa. A huge flightless bird, thought to have gone extinct 200 years ago....hunted to extinction by the Maori
I'm not convinced that intervention will play out the way it is intended......Human intervention is what caused the problems in the first place.....
......hopefully the balance can be found.
Another interesting indigenous beast, the stuff of legend....Haast's eagle:
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