Cycle: 77km (the long way!)

Yay - today we were going to reach Queenstown and Arrowtown and all via gorgeous scenery! The mile churing previous two days were worth it. Plus we were now heading north and chasing the sun.

The cycle from Kingston took us alongside the eastern edge of Lake Wakitipu on the undulating highway. It was a great road with fantastic views and perfect undulations. I started off feeling tired but soon warmed up. It was another crisp, clear day. OUr trip to Queenstown was to take us via Deer Park Heights and therefore 'various scenes of Middle Earth'. Scott was very excited about this and we took the 5 km detour to the affluent Kelvin Heights suburb of Queenstown/Frankton hopeful of a ride up to see the place of various scenes of Middle Earth. The entry to Deer Park Heights informed us that if we were a car we had to pay $20 and that no bicylces were allowed. The road was gravel, very steep, 5km long up to a mountain top and may involve being shot by deer hunters. All in all it was not worth it. Poor husband, he was very disappointed. I was secretly relieved as I have no idea what Middle Earth is and I was rapidly running out of energy and was scared I would have bonked on the mounatin climb. But on the plus side I got to have a good nosey at the plush properties in Kelvin Heights.

We arrived in Queenstwon with a happy sigh of relief at the sight of people sitting outside a choice of bars and cafes. We went straight to Patagonia Chocolates for Patagonia Drak Chocolate ice-cream and latte bowls. What a great lunch. In the cafe a Dutch guy called Renee accosted Scott almost as soon as we were through the door to ask us about our overshoes! He and his wife Marion left Holland and careers in finance to run a B&B in Lake Tekapo and Renee was about to do the round Tekapo bike race (90km including two deep fords). They were very nice and we sat with them while we filled our boots. We did a few jobs in Queenstown (new contacts for me, new front tyres for Humphrey and Lottie) and then set off for Arrowtown via the Gorge Road.

We covered ourselves in lights and cycled the not-to-hilly road to Arrowtown. It was pretty ride, over the Shotover River and past Coronet Peak ski field. We arrived in Arrowtown before dark but not before new frost set in for the night. We found our digs, Riverdown Guest Lodge, easily and were pleasantly surprised at how lovely it was. The manager, Valerie, lives there so we were effectively sharing her lounge, dining room and kitchen. She had a huge wood burning stove going and the lounge was super cosy. We showered and chatted to some fellow travellers, Anthea and Maysa (mother and daughter both British but had loved all over the world) who gave me some career ideas and then headed out to treat ourselves to dinner as it was our 9 year going out anniversary! (not sure if this counts when you're married but thought we'd make the most of being in a nice town!). We went to Pesto, an Italian, for pizza and seafood pasta and had a lovely time.