Month: February 2026

Tuesday’s drive took us through some different countryside. The sun was out but it was a cooler day.

We stopped in the little town of Lawrence for a washroom break and to get our lunch out. We had passed a fruit farm earlier and picked up some cherries and plums for dessert.

We followed along a river for quite a while.

It was built as a preventative measure during the construction of the Clyde Dam and the filling of Lake Dunstan in the early 1990s. Engineers discovered that rainwater seeping into the hillside could cause the large slope to slide into the new lake, potentially compromising the dam. The solution involved a multi-million dollar effort to dewater the slip zone and reinforce the hillside, resulting in the unique, ziggurat-like landscape seen today. 

We got to Queenstown mid afternoon and couldn’t believe the people. We had been warned it would be busy but had no idea just how busy. After a check in and unloading at our Airbnb for the night, we headed downtown to check things out for tomorrow’s tour.

We found where to check in as well as where to park so we should be all set for tomorrow. The forecast is for low wind, cooler but no rain. We’re looking forward to some amazing scenery! Don’t forget to check back!

Monday was a windy and cloudy day to drive down the coast. It was rather uneventful – we did stop along the coast to eat our lunch while we watched the waves on the beach.

By the time we got to our motel in Dunedin, it was raining. Our host was friendly and talkative and wanted to give us lots of tips of what to do. We ate supper and then headed for a short drive to Tomahawk Beach. We were told we might get to see an Elephant Seal. There was a juvenile that was hanging around the beach and we might get lucky and see him. We did manage to find him. It just wasn’t very nice for a beach walk so our views weren’t the best.

Watch his nostrils!

We found some cool flowers at the roadside on our way back to the motel – very colourful!

Tomorrow we head to Queenstown.