New Zealand, January 2, 2025


We left Queenstown this morning.  It’s a town centered around winter skiing and as we were leaving town, we drove by one of the major mountains called The Remarkables.  We personally thought it was remarkable as there were no chair lifts to be seen.  Hmmm.

We had a pleasant ride to Te Anau with no plans for the afternoon.  It’s a small town and the woman at reception suggested we go on a jet boat tour on the Waiau River, connecting Lake Te Anau with Lake Manapouri.  OMG, what a great afternoon!  Our guide has been doing this for 55 years, and when he did his first “spin” with our boat, we couldn’t believe it (video attached). We had a GREAT tour of the river leading to Lake Manapouri, learned about how the lake is used for hydroelectric power, AND how the river was used for scenes in the movie The Lord of the Rings.  






We were also impressed with the Kepler Trail, a 60km (37 mile) route with huts that are used for overnight stays during a 3-4 day trek (we would have loved to have had to time do this!). Most interesting - they have the “Kepler challenge” in which runners run the entire course - the record is about 4.5 hours!!  

So, can we talk pies?  One of the mainstays here are small top-crusted pies.  Mince & Cheese (basically ground meat), Curried Chicken, Lentil Curry, fruit pies, steak pies, lamb pies, etc.   They are DELICIOUS!


A long day of driving tomorrow….off to Milford Sound two hours north of us now, quick boat ride, then a six hour drive to Wanaka. 


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