Crowded but beautiful Queenstown

Yes, indeed, the Otago Central Rail Trail was done but there were some hills ahead of us. We wanted to make it to Queenstown that day but the heat and the hills tried to destroy this plan. Also the traffic was annoying which we weren’t really used to. The landscape was pretty fantastic though, we couldn’t complain.

view on Cromwell

fruits of Cromwell

Around eight kilometers before Queenstown it was already 08:30 p.m. and actually, we were not in the mood for more cycling. Therefore we decided to stay in Frankton for two nights and visit Queenstown from there. The view in the evening was gorgeous: The sun disappeared behind mountains and lake.
The next day the world looked different: We decided to go to Queenstown and stay at a camping site there for one night instead. Said and done and after eight more kilometers we found ourselves at a pretty crowded ground close to the center. Although the city is really extremely touristy, the scenerey is pretty serene.

After a not so calm night we got on a steam ship which we would leave at Walter Peak. Thanks to Chinese New Year we shared the ship with around 100 Chinese. 😀 The passage was calm and after about an hour we were already sitting on our bicycles.
The route going from nowhere to Te Anau is highly recommended: Few cars, rarely humans, just the nature and sheep and cows.

We slept at a remote camp site next to the Mavora Lakes which was quiet and beautiful but in the morning we were visited by some thirsty sandflies.
After another day of quite comfortable cycling – just for the last 20 kilometers we had some strong head wind – we finally arrived in Te Anau.