On the way back to Spinnaker Bay, we make two stops. The first of these is at the venue where bungy jumping began - this is A J Hackett's at the Kawarau Suspension Bridge beside Highway 6. There is a small queue to make the 43-metre plunge towards the river, where a yellow dingy awaits. There are several good viewpoints for us to watch those brave enough to jump.

Our second stop is at Arrowtown (right), a former gold-rush settlement now a major tourist attraction. But at this time of day all the tourists have gone and we are able to stroll the historic street with its beautiful avenue of trees

 

 

 

After three nights at the Spinnaker Bay Luxury Condominiums, today we move on to the town of Te Anau, about 170-kilometres to the southwest, where we will be staying at the Arran Motel for two nights.

Our route is initially south, still following State Highway 6. The road closely follows the east bank of Lake Wakatipu, and hugs the foot of The Remarkables. We are in the shade of these mountains, but have superb views of the Eyre Mountains on the other side of the lake. After driving 40-kilometres we arrive at Kingston - a scattered community at the southern tip of Lake Wakatipu

Snow and early morning cloud enhance the view of the Eyre Mountains across

Lake Wakatipu, on the road from Queenstown to Kingston

Kingston was a major transit centre in the 1860s between the goldfields of the Shotover and Arrow rivers, and the ports of Dunedin and Inverecargill, utilising steam power on rail and on Lake Wakatipu. It is now the starting point for the Kingston Flyer - a tourist train than runs over 15-kilometres of track to the nowhere town of Fairlight.

 

On a lovely warm and sunny day, we take the 10:15 am departure - there are few other passengers and we have no difficulty in securing to ourselves one of the creaky, but sumptuous, turn-of-the-century first-class carriages with its embossed steel ceiling and brass gas lamps. 

The fare of $30 each includes a cup of coffee, and David makes his way to the buffet car to collect these, but the train is swaying madly despite its slow speed. The stewardess carries the cups to our carriage with faultless expertise, but we have difficulty drinking the contents due to the swaying motion

The train is the source of much interest to motorists driving on the nearby Highway 6, as we head south to Fairlight in a lovely landscape that includes distant mountains and lots of very wooly sheep. The commentary broadcast over the train's public address system is difficult to hear, but we can appreciate the music which includes some Glenn Miller tunes.

At Fairlight (left) a couple of buses are waiting to meet the train, and they transfer a large number of British (mostly women from the north of England) onto the train for a one-way ride to Kingston. We arrive there at 11:30am, after a very pleasant trip.

We then drive a fast, empty road to the hamlet of Manapouri via Five Rivers. Here we have lunch in a lovely spot by the lake, followed by cones of the deservedly popular Tip Top ice cream

A short walk alongside Lake Manapouri takes us to Fraser's Beach

A further half-hour drive gets us to Te  Anua, another settlement straggling along the southern shores of its eponymous lake. This will be our base for the next two nights. Our room in the Arran Motel is plain and functional with a large lounge/kitchen area that is sparsely furnished.

The motel is situated in a residential area not far from Lake Te Anau (right) and we take a walk in the hot sunshine, alongside the lake, to the Te Anau Wildlife Centre. Here, we are able to amble through a park-like setting containing a number of enclosures with a variety of birds.

Back at the motel, we just have time for hot drinks before driving to the lakefront to pick up boarding cards for this evening's pre-booked trip to the Glowworm Caves. A 35-minute boat trip to the western side of Lake Te Anau is followed by a short walk to a building called Cavern House where we have a video presentation. Another short walk leads to a short boat ride and then another walk into the cave system that tunnels under the Murchison Mountains.

This last walk passes roaring cataracts that are frighteningly loud in the confines of the cave. We now board a punt that spend 30-minutes on the very clear water in the 200-metre Aurora cave. There were glowworms near the entrance to the cave, but the vast majority are viewed here as we glide through the quiet darkness.

After drinks in Cavern House, we enjoy a lovely sunset as the boat takes us back across Lake Te Anau