Our Great Adventure: Glenorchy 169 6/03/2015

We woke to rain and decided to take advantage of the weather and have a lie in (as much as you can in a camper van!). The forecast looked better as the day progressed so we planned to catch up on admin and planning in the morning and then drive to Glenorchy. We had originally thought about mountain biking or even horse riding whilst we were there but the weather was a bit mixed and windy and Simon's coccyx was still sore after the tumble he had coming down Barrier Knob (plus bruised shin, forearm and ego!). Glenorchy lies at the head of Lake Wakatipu c50km northwest of Queenstown. The views along the drive there, of the sweeping mountains and turquoise waters, are beautiful. The town itself is relatively low key although it is the starting point for some of the long distance walks in the area. From Glenorchy you can continue north along a gravel road to Paradise, 15km northwest of the town, famed for the location for the approach to both Isengard and Lothlorien in Lord of the Rings. Back in Glenorchy we stopped by the lake for lunch. There was an interesting small exhibition in the boat shed which showed the importance of the lake and boats as a means of transportation with some great pictures from the late 19th and early 20th century, prior to the road been opened from Queenstown, in 1962. We both need a few new clothes before we head off to South America so we took advantage of the outdoor shops back in Queenstown to have a look around and make a few purchases before walking back to the campsite. The temperature is a bit cooler today and too chilly to sit outside so we had dinner in our van. Tomorrow we're planning to drive to Wanaka where we are intending to stay for a few nights and hopefully meet up with Karenza, Chris, Emily and Grace who we met in Luang Prabang last November.