Our trip started on Wednesday morning. We were packed and ready when our friends Sam and Joyce arrived to take us across to Queenstown. We had thought we would have lunch in Arrowtown but a drive through the town centre soon put paid to that. It was hard to believe that so many people could be about on a cold Wednesday in November. Yes it was definitely cold with a fresh snowfall on both the Remarkables and Coronet Peak and the air temperature at a high of 11degrees! Instead we drove towards Frankton and stopped off at Walnut Cottage where we enjoyed a delicious lunch. Joyce was able to show us some photos of their trip to Western Australia a few short years ago so we now have a bit of a heads up on what we might see once we get to that area in December.
Photos of Walnut Cottage Cafe & Restaurant near Arrowtown. Photos of our cottage, garden and food.
We had a direct flight to Sydney so it wasn't long before we were landing at Sydney Airport. Initially we had thought we would have to take the train up the mountain to Medlow Bath, but Helen and Rob had a last minute trip to the city so we able to pick us up which was very convenient for us.
We had three nights in Medlow Bath, and we felt like we had returned home. It was here that we spent two months last winter. Helen and Rob have since moved back here permanently, from Canberra, so the property has now changed from a holiday house to a home. We had fairly laid back two days. The weather was much warmer- up to 35degrees at times, compared to what we had left in Central Otago. One thing we did do was to take a trip to Blackheath to revisit the Rhododendron Gardens. They have their annual festival in late October/November and although we were a little late there were still a number of plants still flowering.
The same lake on Thursday this week.
Helen was also able to take us to another spot in Blackheath that we hadn't discovered last year. This is the local outdoor swimming pool that was initially built out of the ponds that were used to store water for the early steam trains. The area has a mature park like garden that is also full of rhododendrons and there were still many displaying their blooms for us. The pool doesn't open until the last weekend in November so if it is still not when we return at the beginning of December we will be keen to test it out.
We had hoped to take a walk down to the Hydro Majestic, that large early 20th century hotel/resort along the road, but unfortunately time didn't allow it. This building has been left derelict for a number of years and it was while we were here last year that work began on it multimillion dollar restoration project. We will now have to wait for that treat when we return in ten days time.
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