Hot, High and Tipsy: May 18, 2014 To Central Orago

It is wet in Queenstown and the sky looks like there is more to come. It is fall south of the equator and we have been treated to fall color compliments of the folks from Europe that brought deciduous trees. Apparently all the native plants in New Zealand just stay green and skip all this color changing bit. But it is a nice addition and we get a second fall this year.

Off we go regardless of the weather and we head out for a drive to Mt. Aspiring National Park by Lake Wanaka by the city of the same name. But first we stop for a bit of shopping at Arrow Town. Arrow Town was a gold mining settlement that resembles in location and buildings like our foothill gold towns of Placerville or Auburn in California. A tiny town filled with expensive clothing and jewlery shops so we know the tourists with money must hit this spot in high season. We almost have the place to ourselves and we spend enough to fill a few bags to take along.
Next stop is a bar that for all the world looks as if Wyatt Earp would step throught the swinging doors any minute.

Along the way we almost passed the Cardrona Bra Fence just outside of Wanaka, but Krim and Tina asked Steve to stop for pictures. It was then he told us the story about the fence, he said most people in the area believe that the fence was started as a memorial for a young woman who had died from breast cancer. The fence has been cleared several times, but the bras keep coming back. Here is the picture we took today of it.... it's quite a site!

Finally, we move on to the lovely city of Wanaka lying by a beautiful lake of the same name. Our guide Steve is a pro and more important, a quality person that makes us feel his main goal in life is to make us happy. He and Veronika have gone beyond, adjusting our adventures to suit us and the weather.

Following a great lunch we meet our guide Heidi for a 4 wheel drive in the country. First look at Heidi and you like her a lot. She has the face of an person that loves and lives the outdoors with sparkling blue eyes but she is visably disappointed. Rain has found us and the wonderful views we anticipated are in danger.
But we press on and by golly, after a bit the rain pulls back and there are breaks in the clouds. Across the lake a rainbow appears and we take it as a sign we may just pull out another day or wonder.

Sure enough, our track around the large lake produces amazing views after amazing views. A good size island pops out of the lake and Heidi tells us the island holds it's own lake. Part of this area was also used for some filming of the "Lord of the Rings" so the views are movie perfect.

We are lucky indeed to visit this area as it is a working sheep and deer farm and only these folks have access so we are alone in this huge area of beauty.

We pull off and go for a short walk to an empty beach where a single guy spent 7 years trying to make a go of it raising sheep. He put in a huge amount of work putting up stone buildings but gave up, leaving the lake to eventually entertain folks in summer with BBQ, boating and fishing. Heidi brings coffee, tea and cookies we enjoy while looking over this incredible place.

As we head back we see a helicopter dancing through a canyon and we know from our source that there is a Muster (Round-up to you Yanks) taking place of the deer in the farm. We are in for some fun as there are now three helicopters joined by four dirt bikes and a pack of dogs working to drive the deer to an enclosure for god knows what. But here is a clue. Deer farming is big business for New Zealand and the biggest customer is Germany and they like venison. The deer are red tail and quite large and we know because as we turn a corner following all the modern day cowboys, we see hundreds of deer being driven down the valley. It is an amazing sight not likely to be seen again by these eyes.

Below is our video of the Mustering of the deer