South Island Trip 2021 Blog #6 Queenstown, Cromwell, Alexandra and Ranfurly

 Yes we decide Queenstown should not be avoided now there are no international tourists in the streets.

The photo below was the taken at the top of the Crown Range with Queenstown in the distance.

Once in town and we found a park for our 7 meter motorhome (not an easy ask)

we decided to give the Gondola a go and take a ride to the top.

Mountain bikes go up as well...that’s cool!

It goes right past the AJ Hackett bungy jumping platform ......

not even a flicker of a thought, I’d like to do that! 

 Such a scenic spot ... no wonder the tourists love it...

The paragliders are out in full force, what a ride, right down to the ground in the city.



This is how you go higher to get on the Luge and to take a paragliding ride

Those are the luges which hook onto the underside of the chairs

I walked up to the top of the mountain through a forest to where the Paragliders launch

This is how the Paraglider shute gets up their, on the pilots back as a backpack.

Now fully unfolded and nearly ready, note the rainbow coloured guy ropes!

 This was a solo paraglider....

 And a duo paraglider



They get the wind to pick up the shute and hover above them, then with a few backwards steps,

to get the wing to fully take the weight they run forward down the slope, and they are airborne.

They ride the air currents up to the head of the valley and can easily do that for some time,

before heading out across Lake Wakatipu. I could easily hear the conversation between pilot and passenger. 

I managed to to some more busking, enough to win myself a lovely gelato treat.

We headed out the Glenorchy Road to the 25mile free camping place right beside the lake with a swim in the very hot late afternoon weather.

A perfect last day for Christine as she caught the 7am flight back home to Nelson. 

I had a puncture in my Unicycle tyre (the front one) and got the Torpedo cycle shop to fix it.

After two attempts we finally decided to install a new tube!



More busking on the lake front, with the obligatory ice cream to end my day.

It was the Torpedo Cycle shop guys who suggested (when I asked for possible free parkups for my motorhome) to head on up to Coronet Peak skifield.

 Which I did and stopped 3.6k from the top at one of the nice pull off areas where bikes go down the trails.
 
Paradise found and no one around...ah such bliss!

In the morning I played  my axes while admiring the view, my hat, heart and head were already full to overflowing! 

Up at Coronet Peak we were free to park on the #1 Carpark, just down from the main ski field buildings 

I chatted to Guy from Hamilton, who also hired a Mountain bike and we went up to ride the trails

But first we walked up to above the end of the chairlifts, the views were spectacular.

This is the first proper mountain bike I’ve ridden, front and rear suspension, the seat shot up from the left hand handlebar lever for any pedal action,

 otherwise it stayed down to be able to manoeuvre around the banked corners and rocks etc.

The easiest track was an intermediate trail, which meant it was pretty tricky stuff for this mountain bike novice.

However I managed to come off the bike and trail 3 times in the 4 runs for my days fun up the mountain.

I considered myself lucky once again to escape any injuries. 

That looks pretty gnarly .... and that was the easy stuff!

I was looking to check out the Kingston area, but missed that turnoff ending up at the Kelvin Peninsula, which has a beautifull Golf Course at the very end of the peninsula

After coffee and a scone I took the walk around the peninsula ...

Which had some amazing sculptures 

Right next to the greens



 Along the trail was some smaller sculptures that I equally appreciated.









This was where the Earnslaw was launched from

Over the other side of the water is Kingston...never did actually get there...next time!

Next I headed for Arrowtown, plenty of parking space and let rip busking...

Till I decided to head for Cromwell and the parkup just outside of town at Lake Dunstan

 What an evening display as I munched on Cromwell Cherries

I continued on the next morning to Alexandra where I decided to hire an electric bike 

and ride some of the Otago Central Rail Trail starting in Clyde 

This is the tunnel that goes under the main road just outside Clyde.

Some fantastic mural paining here by Bruce Potter, and the whistle sounded great in the tunnel too!

I biked from Clyde to Omakau and back to Alexandra a total of 56k and used all of the available battery power. 

In Ranfurly I stopped for lunch and to visit an artist/wood carver whose work I’d seen in Clyde.

I had a great chat to Luke Anthony about his work and here is some of his carvings taken from his web site

His dream is to carve all the New Zealand native birds and really researches his subject, and goes into very fine detailed work





The photos below tell a different story of Ranfurly, who were having some unusual water issues

Hyde which is very near Ranfurly was also the scene of a terrible train crash

on the 4th of June 1943

The Cromwell–Dunedin express, travelling at speed, derailed while rounding a curve near Hyde in Central Otago. Twenty-one of the 113 passengers on board were killed and 47 injured in what was then New Zealand’s worst rail accident.

When locomotive Ab 782 left the rails at 1.45 p.m. all seven carriages followed. Four were telescoped together and several were smashed to pieces. The survivors did what they could for each other until help arrived 90 minutes later. Rescue work continued through the night.

A board of inquiry found the locomotive had entered the bend at perhaps 112 km per hour, more than twice the speed limit for that section of track. Engine driver John Corcoran was subsequently found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison. Some have argued that Corcoran, fatigued after working long hours, was a scapegoat for a Railways Department happy to absolve itself of any blame.

Moving on from here, with a cold front passing through I headed for Oamaru.
 So this is all for this particular blog .

So...Stay safe, have Fun and Be Creative.

Jimu & Christine.