Zillian Hill

Wednesday 9th November
After finishing the blog on Tuesday 8th November, posting it and turning in for the night, it all started to kick off! First we heard a very loud, deep rumbling and wondered if it was thunder, but it seemed too intense. Then the pyrotechnic show started, the sky lit up with sheet lightning and the thunder crashed in unison. Peeping out of our door we watched as our white car, parked directly outside our room seemed to light up, the white colour becoming even more luminous and bright. The heavens opened and the rain fell. It came down in absolute torrents, it was a deluge. We lay in bed and listened to the rain pounding on the tin roof of our single storey chalet. I couldn’t remember if Janet was afraid of thunderstorms or not and wondered if she was ok, on the other hand she could be absolutely fine and enjoying the spectacle. The storm continued unabated throughout the night for many hours. It was trapped between the mountains in the valley where we were and swirled round and around. One minute it seemed to settle, the rain stopped, the lightning ceased and the thunder died away, then all of a sudden with an almighty crash the skies lit up and the rain hammered down again, echoing on the tin roof. We wondered how close we were to the river, what if it burst its banks? Perhaps the management would come round pounding on doors telling everyone to leave and get to higher ground! Around 5am there was a huge bang, much louder than anything else which woke Peter up – amazingly he managed to slumber through the storm having earlier pulled on my coat and going outside to watch it. When he came in he fell asleep fairly easily, until the big bang! Later on, when we got up and gingerly peered outside to inspect the damage, we learnt that there was a direct lightning hit on the property next door, melting the phone to the wall. It was the worst storm in living memory! People were stranded at our motel as all roads north to Fox and Franz Joseph were blocked by landslides. We had planned to go on a wildlife boat trip in the morning but there was a call to say the river was too high and they couldn’t take the boats out. We are blaming Janet’s unlucky jumper. She ruefully admitted that she had been wearing it when we were due to go whale watching and again when we turned up to go heli-hiking. I think she was probably wearing it in bed last night too. Janet is keeping suspiciously quiet about the whole thing. I rest my case.

Our route was taking us south to Queenstown which TomTom predicted would take 3hrs. In fact it took us nearer 7 hours because we did lots of stops on the way. The upside of the great storm was that all the rivers and waterfalls were swollen beyond belief and took on a newfound beauty. As we drove along it was apparent that everyone was doing the same as cars, campervans and motorhomes were pulled off the road every few kms to look at a magnificent waterfall or rapids. Seeing a group of vehicles at one layby we too pulled over and walked through a mossy wood, hopping through deep puddles to get to the edge of the river where, on the opposite bank we could see Roaring Billy – a huge waterfall, its waters swelled by the overnight rain, ejected from the top of a clifftop as if fired from a water cannon then falling down the side of the cliff into the tumultuous churning waters of the river below. It was an awe-inspiring sight. Further along the road we stopped to see Thunder Creek falls, higher, not as wide but similarly swollen. Again, we walked to the edge of the river on the opposite bank. The mist from the falls filled the air all around us, soaking our hair and clothes, we shielded our cameras as best we could from the mist. Alongside all the roads newly created waterfalls sprung from crevices and fissures in the rock-face adjacent to the road, tumbling into gullies along the edge of the roads and from there seeping into the rivers all around causing them to roar through the valleys and gorges gouging out new channels and threatening to flood surrounding land.
We stopped for lunch at Boundary Creek picnic and camping ground. It was on the shores of Lake Wanaka. By now the skies were cornflower blue with wisps of white cloud whilst the waters of Lake Wanaka were a deep sapphire blue surrounded by green mountains dotted with trees. We walked along the water’s edge, picking up interesting looking stones, admiring the vast quantities of driftwood scattered along the shoreline. Some had been fashioned into makeshift shelters and camps, presumably by children or campers. It was the sort of moment you want to bottle and remember for ever.

Carrying on our journey we were held up by a large landslide which covered half the road. Three men on ropes were precariously suspended up the cliff-face carrying out routine maintenance, clearing debris that would otherwise fall and cause more problems. Talking to the supervisor on the ground she explained that tomorrow a couple of helicopters were coming to sluice the cliff tomorrow scooping water up from the lake in giant buckets then dropping the water onto the cliff to wash away any debris left. That sounded an interesting sight and I wished I could be around to see it.

Our final stop was Arrowtown which is a mock-up of a western town. The fronts of the shops had been built to carefully represent shops and buildings from a wild west town. It looked lovely and we spent an hour or so wandering around in the sunshine enjoying an ice cream.

Arriving in Queenstown we found our bed for the night, Peppers Beacon. It was a very pleasant surprise, a 2-bedroom apartment overlooking the lake. Both bedrooms were en-suite, the kitchen had 2 dishwashers and full cooking facilities; opening a cupboard door we found a washing machine and tumble dryer. Very nice. The only downside is that they do not have free WiFi so I will have to wait to post this blog until I can get hooked up as I am not paying their prices. We have a little family of sparrows who have made a nest by the warm air vent next to our balcony. The parents seem to be gathering grubs and moths for their young and welcomed some crumbs and snips of chicken skin from our meal. A greedy blackbird was also nesting in a bush in front of our balcony – we are on the ground floor and he hoovered up any titbits left by the sparrows.Read more