Queenstown - Glenorchy

Efter endnu en bustur ankom jeg til Queenstown, hvor jeg mødte Svea igen ved en Trail Angel, hvor vi kunne slå vores telte op i hendes have. Queenstown er en meget dyr og turistet by, og alt til en rimelig pris var derfor booket, så det var meget værdsat, at vi kunne være i hendes have. Om aftenen så jeg, at en havde kommenteret på mit Facebook-opslag, og at det var hendes forældre, vi havde fået et lift med til Wānaka. Hun skrev, at hendes mor tidligere på dagen havde fundet min Garmin i bilen og indleveret den til politiet i Wānaka.

Dagen efter om morgenen gik turen derfor til politistationen i Wānaka. De har dog lukket om søndagen, og jeg ringede derfor ind til en hotline for at høre, om jeg kunne hente min Garmin alligevel, så vi ikke tog derop forgæves. Det kunne jeg!

Vi hitchhikede derfor tilbage til Wānaka, hvor vi havde været et par dage forinden. Først stoppede en bil, som kun skulle nogle få kilometer videre til Lake Hayes. Derfra stoppede en camper med et ældre fransk par, som havde rigeligt med flasker vin, der klirrede i deres camper, og som skulle direkte til Wānaka. Vi nåede dog ikke længere end 15 kilometer, før de holdt ind til siden, da deres benzinbarometer begyndte at gå op og ned, og de blev nødt til at vende om til Queenstown. Vi blev derfor sat af vitterligt ude i ingenting, men den næste bil stoppede for os, hvor et par fra Auckland tog os direkte med til Wānaka. De skulle kun spise brunch der og tage tilbage til Queenstown bagefter, og de tilbød os derfor et par timer senere et direkte lift tilbage, hvilket vi takkede ja til.

Efter at have ventet lidt kom jeg ud fra politistationen meget lettet og glad for at have min lifesaver af en Garmin InReach tilbage, og nu kunne turen igen fortsættes!

På tilbagevejen med parret fra Auckland stoppede vi ved en populær, gammel pub, Cardrona, ude i ingenting, hvor vi fik en øl i solen, inden turen gik videre til Queenstown.

Fra Queenstown håbede vi at kunne få et lift næsten hele vejen til Greenstone Carpark, hvor vi skulle uden om søen Wakatipu – en strækning på 80 kilometer. Det lykkedes dog ikke, men efter to hitchhikes og 45 kilometer kom vi til Glenorchy, hvor vi slog vores telte op for natten.

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After yet another bus ride, I arrived in Queenstown, where I met Svea again at a Trail Angel’s place, where we were able to pitch our tents in her garden. Queenstown is a very expensive and touristy town, and everything reasonably priced was fully booked, so we were incredibly grateful to be able to stay in her garden. In the evening, I saw that someone had commented on my Facebook post, and it turned out to be the daughter of the couple who had given us a lift to Wānaka. She wrote that her mother had found my Garmin in the car earlier that day and had handed it in to the police in Wānaka.

The next morning, we therefore headed to the police station in Wānaka. They are closed on Sundays, so I called a hotline to check whether I could still collect my Garmin so we wouldn’t go there in vain. I could!

We hitchhiked back to Wānaka, where we had been a few days earlier. First, a car stopped that was only going a few kilometres further to Lake Hayes. From there, a campervan stopped with an elderly French couple, whose camper was filled with clinking wine bottles, and who were heading directly to Wānaka. However, we didn’t get more than 15 kilometres before they pulled over, as their fuel gauge started going up and down, and they had to turn back to Queenstown. We were dropped off literally in the middle of nowhere, but the next car stopped for us, and a couple from Auckland took us directly to Wānaka. They were only going there for brunch before heading back to Queenstown, and a few hours later they kindly offered us a direct lift back, which we happily accepted.

After waiting a little while, I walked out of the police station feeling incredibly relieved and happy to have my lifesaver of a Garmin InReach back, and now the journey could continue once again!

On the way back with the couple from Auckland, we stopped at a popular old pub, Cardrona, out in the middle of nowhere, where we had a beer in the sun before continuing on to Queenstown.

From Queenstown, we hoped to get a lift almost all the way to Greenstone Carpark, where we needed to go around Lake Wakatipu - a stretch of 80 kilometres. That didn’t quite work out, but after two hitchhikes and 45 kilometres, we reached Glenorchy, where we pitched our tents for the night.Læs mere