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January 2025 (Part 14)

New Zealand Trip - Day Thirteen: Queenstown and

Adventures By Disney - Day Twelve: Haere Ra

Said a sad goodbye or poroporiaki to our fellow Disney Adventurers, as the guides and several people headed to the airport.  A couple like us were staying a bit longer, including one group headed to Milford Sound then headed to Australia to take a Disney Cruise back home.  Note to self, sounded like fun if you had the time.  Nancy headed to the airport too, but to meet David and get a rental car.  We had arranged for ebikes to be delivered that morning so we could set out directly from the hotel.  We selected a rather flat route heading clockwise around the lake to Franktown, then headed on another trail along the Kawarau River, stopping for lunch at the Boat Shed Cafe on the way back.

Had a nice view from our balcony of the TSS Earnslaw crossing the lake.

Fascinated by these small dolphin boats, which could run underwater on a snorkel then porpoise into the air.  You could go for a ride with a pilot, but it was a bit expensive for the short ride for us.

That evening we drove out of Queenstown to the east, headed for Cardrona Peak.  This was a surprising drive up a winding dirt road along the side of a steep mountain leading to the base of a ski resort.  There were a couple parking lots along the way to allow bus pickup.  It was long enough of a drive, that they didn't just put parking at the bottom.  The ski boundaries were bigger in the winter, but it was still pretty small.  It was clear that almost the entire resort was devoted to terrain parks with clear huge jumps and half pipes.  For the summer, they had two lifts running which ferried mountain bikers and mountain carts.  Both Steve and Andy were doing the mountain carts, while Nancy and David opted to take a ride up to the peak to walk around a bit.  Of note, the mountain bike trails looked awesome, with some clearly expert runs, but most looked manageable to the boys and looked like a lot of fun.

Here are Steve and Andy all geared up and ready to go.

Up top, there was a path leading to the peak and some Maori statues or totem poles.

There was also a fun swing positioned to take you out over a cliff.

Here are some images clipped from the GoPro video.

Nancy was sporting a pretty good bruise by that night from mounting and dismounting her ebike and hitting the cage.