We had been wondering what the splash of red amongst the foliage in the hotel courtyard was each time we walked by so, finally, I went and took a closer look. The autumn colours of the trees contrast beautifully with the green shrubs and red of this sweet little rose.
The views from Bob's Peak are amazing and on a fine day would be even more breath taking. Friday was quite cloudy most of the day and we were too tinny to pay the $25 gondola fee to go up again on Saturday which dawned bright and sunny, so you'll have to make do with these perhaps inadequate snaps of the scenery. Imagine them as brighter, bluer and greener!
This is the view from the street of the gondola route up to Bob's Peak.
For some reason I completely forgot about the 'panorama' setting on my camera and this would have been the perfect time to use it.
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza which is right opposite the marina. The beds were comfy and although we had a courtyard room we had no view of the courtyard. However, the staff were all very helpful. Lucky Pam won the trip though because I doubt we could have afforded such great accommodation right in the middle of town.
This is the TSS Earnslaw, a steamer which takes tours around Lake Wakatipu. Something we thought about doing, but didn't. I should start a post about things we DIDN'T do.
Another shot of the paragliding.
These beautiful purple bloom spikes are very fetching but no idea of their name. From our observations, one reason we couldn't find out names of flowers is that hardly anyone in Queenstown is a New Zealander, let alone a native of Queenstown. Might have to ask one of my Kiwi friends now living in Australia...
