We’ve left the mountains behind us and have arrived in Christchurch ready for our flight back to Auckland tomorrow to catch up with family and bring our New Zealand adventure to a close. It was emotional leaving Queenstown yesterday afternoon as it was the first time we have done a journey knowing that the best bits are behind us.
Anyway…. Doubtful Sound was incredible. The most remote, inhospitable and daunting place I’ve ever been….and I spent my youth in Scunthorpe 😉. The journey across was made quite eerie due to the low clouds and chilly breeze. The Wilmot Pass is a gravel road built to service the construction of the hydro power station and the only road to Doubtful Sound, which is actually a fjord not a sound. We stopped at the lookout at the summit of the pass and saw the fjord through the mist. The driver told us that it was rare to see anything from there. We had two and a half hours out on the fjord with a mixture of weather from dark clouds and icy rain to blue skies and bright sunshine. At one point the skipper turned everything off for 10 minutes and told everyone to shut the fuck up and enjoy the silence. It was a privilege to be able to visit and probably the highlight of the whole trip.
Next was Queenstown for a couple of nights to hang out with the young people and play more golf. The town is smaller than I expected and surrounded by rugged scenery. We walked part of the way up Ben Lomond and got some great views without having to break ourselves getting to the summit. It’s a lively town at night and we found a cracking lakeside bar with live music.
A game of golf at Queenstown GC and another game at my favourite course, Arrowtown GC before the 5 hour drive towards Christchurch through crap wet weather.
