Morn's Diary!!!: 2011 August: Princess’s Trip to New Zealand (South Island) Part 2/4

28-08-2011 (Day 4): Franz Josef -> Fox Glacier -> Lake Matheson -> Salmon Farm Cafe ->Wanaka (265km, 5:30 hours drive)

Attraction: Lake Matheson

A really enjoyable and easy 90 minute walk providing unsurpassed reflective views of Aoraki/Mt Cook, Mt Tasman and the forested lakeshore. The waters of Lake Matheson are dark brown, so on a calm day they create the ideal reflective surface.

Attraction: Wanaka

Wanaka is a town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated at the southern end of Lake Wanaka, adjacent to the outflow of the lake to the Clutha River. It is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. Wanaka is primarily a resort town but has both summer and winter seasons and is based around the many outdoor opportunities. Due to the growing tourism business and the increasing number of retirees in Wanaka, large growth is occurring, with a population increase of up to 50% in the past 10 years.

Attraction: Puzzling World

Stuart Landsborough's Puzzling World is a tourist attraction near Wanaka, New Zealand. It started out as just a maze in 1973, but over the years expanded to accommodate a "puzzling café" where guests could try out several puzzles, rooms with optical illusions, the Leaning Tower of Wanaka (which has a backwards clock that was started on the eve of the new millennium) and other things. The operators of Puzzling World have for many years offered a monetary prize for anybody who can prove themselves to have psychic powers; all a potential winner needs to do is use their powers to locate a specific item located somewhere in Puzzling World's environs. To date the prize goes unclaimed, although 6 "professional" psychics have attempted the challenge. The biggest challenge: A huge maze in which the traveller must reach four towers while navigating the maze.

Attraction: Salmon Farm Café

Set in beautiful native forest overlooking Waituna Creek and the spectacular Paringa River Valley. Specialising in fresh and smoked salmon. The licensed café features a variety of home-cooked food to suit most tastes and budgets. Feed the salmon and purchase salmon products, souvenirs and crafts. Free entry.

Accommodation: X Base Wanaka

29-08-2011 (Day 5): Wanaka -> Arrowtown -> Queenstown (115km, 1:50 hours drive)

Attraction: Arrowtown

Arrowtown is a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Arrowtown is located on the banks of the Arrow River approximately 5 km from State Highway 6. There is also road access directly to Queenstown via the Shotover Gorge and a third route via the picturesque Lake Hayes.

During the high point of the gold rush the population of Arrowtown rose to over 7,000 and became the center of a larger municipality, which covered the new settlements of Macetown, Skippers and Bullendale (today only ghost towns). Arrowtown was constituted as a borough in 1867 [1] and became part of the Queenstown-Lakes District in the local government reorganisation of 1989.

The town reached a population low of fewer than 200 people in the 1960s[1] before gaining popularity again. According to the 2006 New Zealand census, the usually-resident population of Arrowtown was 2,151, a 27.1% increase since 2001.[2] The town has seen considerable growth and construction, but it falls under strict appearance covenants applied by the local authority that aim to preserve the appearance of the town. There are many well preserved buildings used by European and Chinese[3] immigrants dating from the gold mining days of the town. Arrowtown is the home of the excellent Lakes District Museum.

Attraction: Queenstown

Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains such as The Remarkables, Cecil Peak, Walter Peak and just above the town; Ben Lomond and Queenstown Hill.

William Gilbert Rees, along with fellow explorer Nicholas Von Tunzelman, were the first Europeans to settle the area (the first european to see the Wakatipu basin was Nathanael Chalmers). Rees was in search of pastoral land, and after an initial visit returned in 1860 to establish a high country farm in the location of Queenstown's current town centre. However the Rees’ farming lifestyle was to be short-lived. In 1862 gold was discovered in the Arrow River, a short distance from Queenstown at which point Rees converted his wool shed into a hotel named the Queen's Arms, now known as Eichardt's.

There are various apocryphal accounts of how the town was named, the most popular suggesting that a local gold digger exclaimed that the town was "fit for Queen Victoria". It is now known for its commerce-oriented tourism, especially adventure and ski tourism. It is popular with young international and New Zealand travellers alike.

The town is the largest centre in Central Otago, and the third largest in Otago. According to the 2006 census, the usually resident population of the Queenstown urban area (including Fernhill, Frankton and Kelvin Heights) is 10,416,[1] an increase of 22.1% since 2001.

Its neighbouring towns include Arrowtown, Wanaka, Alexandra, and Cromwell. The nearest cities are Dunedin and Invercargill.