Road called ICE/GRIT

Travelled from Wanaka to Arrowtown to Te Anau
Not such a great vista today when we awoke, a fog covered the valley and hid the mountains. Never mind, we resumed out drive south, heading for Arrowtown.
As soon as we left Wanaka there a big sign on the roadside, "Ice/Grit", maybe its the name of the highway we are on. Have seen it in various places along the way and obviously indicates there could be ice on the road or grit dropped there by the council to stop vehicles slipping on the ice. Plenty of signage this morning as we went along altho no ice but could see the roadsides and paddocks were frozen.
Went around a bend and there before us was a fence covered in bras! Had to stop there & check it out. The nearby community of Carbona has set this an awareness campaign for breast cancer and invite ladies to hang a bra & donate some $. Sue left one of hers and a few $ in the donation box.
A few km along we reached a high peak on the range and it was well and truly covered with snow, good enough for some skiers to get in some early season practice. Of course we stopped & threw some snow about as well.
After a nice steep drive down the other side we were given our 1st long distance view of Queenstown, very impressive.
Soon we turned off & went into the historic village of Arrowtown, named after the 3 creeks converging in the shape of an arrow. Was sunny but freezing, there was a hoar frost and the ice on the puddles was about 20mm thick. The town was originally a gold rush town in the 1800s, the Chinese immigrants got the whole thing going and must have suffered during the freezing winters. There is a small recreation of the old settlement along the creek.
The main street is a narrow street with the shops retaining original frontages and a side street still has the old miners cottages.
We stayed there until lunching in the park, nice & sunny but in the shade the grass was still frozen.
A few km out of town we caught a quick view of the classic NZ mountains reflected in the water, giving us a glimse of Lake Hayes.

Bypassing Queenstown we continued south through amazing Southland territory, undulating pasture lands, beaut trout streams, deer farms, hunting lodges and the now normal snowy mountains behind. 1 1/2 hours later we arrived at Te Anau and our van park was located right on the lake. Was very chilly wind but warmed up once inside the kitchen / dining room where we met French, Singaporeans, Israelis, Chinese, Spanish, & a couple of token Kiwis.
Weather was fine all day but cold & windy in the afternoon

Highlights
* snow to play in,
* Arrowtown & its quaint street, shops & houses,
* drive to Te Anau, thru the Southlands
* Te Anau van prk on the lakesideRead more