at the confluence of the Rees and Dart Rivers. The natural beauty of the
area, the ancient beech forests and rugged mountains were the mystical
backdrops for many of the scenes of the Lord of The Rings
trilogy.
After lunch in
Glenorchy there is another sketching stop before returning to Queenstown
where you have the rest of the afternoon free before meeting in the
evening for dinner in another one of Queenstown’s superb restaurants.
Continental breakfast
and two course dinner included. Lunch at own cost.
Day 3
– Monday, 11th April
Queenstown to Wanaka
Today we leave
Queenstown and head north. We stop a short distance out of Queenstown
for a sketching session at a Kawarau River bungee spot. If you are
feeling really adventurous I am sure the rest of us would enjoy watching
you make a jump!
We then head north
into tussock country. The road climbs up the Crown Range then down into
the rolling hills of the Cardrona Valley. This tranquil rural setting
also boasts one of New Zealand's oldest hotels where we will stop for
lunch, do some sketching and/or browse the hotel's impressive collection
of local history from years gone by.
Next stop is Wanaka,
a favourite Kiwi resort town on the edge of crystal-clear Lake Wanaka,
New Zealand’s fourth largest lake. We stay for two nights at the Lake
Wanaka Lodge (see www.lakewanakalodge.co.nz)
Continental breakfast and two course dinner
included. Lunch at own cost.
Day 4 – Tuesday, 12th April
Wanaka
After breakfast we set off for a day trip to enjoy
a taste of the superb mountain and river scenery of the Haast Pass in Mt
Aspiring National Park.
Passing by the western shore of Lake Hawea and
north eastern edge of Lake Wanaka our first stop is at the Blue Pools on
the edge of the Mt Aspiring National Park. The Blue Pools are reached by
an easy 10 minute walk along a benched and graded gravel path,
interspersed with boardwalks, winding through beech forest to a swing
bridge high above the river. From the centre of the span, you can marvel
at the clarity of the water, look out for the trout and enjoy a
spectacular view of the Main Divide.
Weather permitting we
will enjoy a packed lunch at a nearby picnic area before travelling on a
short distance to the Fantail Falls. We will spend an hour or so
sketching the Falls before returning to Wanaka where you will have time
to explore the town and take in its stunning backdrop of towering
snow-capped peaks before meeting up again for dinner.
Continental
breakfast, lunch and two course dinner included.
Day 5 – Wednesday, 13th April
Wanaka to Tekapo
Today we leave Wanaka and drive through the
dramatic sweeping vistas of tussock grasses and mountains of the
Mackenzie Basin. We traverse the Lindis Pass, stopping for a sketching
session before carrying on to lunch and a look around at Twizel. If all
had gone to plan, Twizel would not exist today. It was built in 1968 as
the base for the Upper Waitaki Power development, one of the most
impressive hydroelectric power schemes in the Southern Hemisphere. The
plan was to bulldoze the town once the construction work was completed.
However the inhabitants of Twizel had grown fond of their home during
the 18 years of construction, so they successfully campaigned to retain
the town.
From Twizel we
continue our journey north, stopping at the southern edge of Lake Pukaki
for our second sketching session for the day. At the head of Lake Pukaki
towers Mt Cook, at 3754 metres New Zealand's highest mountain, named in
Maori Aoraki, "the cloud piercer".
A World Heritage
site, Aoraki-Mount Cook National Park covers over 70,000 hectares of
alpine scenery. It is also renowned for amazing cloud formations known
as the North West Arch.
We then drive on to
Tekapo where you have free time to settle in for our two night’s stay at
the Lake Tekapo Scenic Resort (see www.laketekapo.com). Tekapo’s scenery
is breath taking with its combination of the turquoise lake, the
exquisite Church of the Good Shepherd, memorial to the sheep dogs of the
McKenzie country, snow-capped Southern Alps, and the clean air, which is
reputed to be the clearest air in the World. New Zealand has put in a
bid to UNESCO to make Tekapo the world's first night sky reserve.
We have an early
dinner this evening so those of us who want to can visit the Mount John
Observatory to see the night sky in dazzling clarity and look through
powerful telescopes to bring you closer to planets, stars, nebulae and
even other galaxies.
Continental breakfast
and two course dinner included. Lunch and any tour to Mount John
Observatory at own cost.
Day
6 – Thursday, 14th April
Tekapo
After breakfast, we
spend an hour or so sketching from the balcony of our motel. The ice-fed
waters of Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, which we passed yesterday, are
cold and coloured intense blue. The colossal, heavy tread of glaciation
grinds stone to fine dust and it is this ‘rock flour’, suspended in the
water, that gives rise to the brilliant turquoise tint.
You then have some
free time before we drive the short distance to the top of Mount John.
We will have lunch at the Astro Café followed by the opportunity to
sketch the Mount John Observatory buildings or the spectacular panoramic
views of the Mackenzie country.
Continental breakfast
and two course dinner included. Lunch at own cost.
Day 7 – Friday, 15th April
Tekapo to Queenstown
After breakfast and checking out of the motel we
spend time sketching the Church of the Good Sheppard on the edge of Lake
Tekapo. We head off then on our journey back to Queenstown.
Leaving the turquoise
lakes behind we drive back through the Mackenzie Basin, stopping at
Omarama for lunch and then on through the Lindis Pass to Cromwell.
Abundant sun-ripened apricots, nectarines, cherries, apples and peaches
have earned Cromwell its reputation as the ‘fruit bowl of the south’.
The orchards and vineyards are irrigated by nearby Lake Dunstan – a
man-made lake and reservoir formed on the Clutha River as a result of
the construction of the Clyde Dam, which flooded the original main
street of Cromwell in the early 1990s. Prior to this, parts of the town
were relocated to an area above the new lake and many of the historic
buildings have been lovingly restored to form what is known as the Old
Cromwell Town Historic Precinct. This is where we stop for a sketching
session and afternoon tea.
Leaving Cromwell we
drive on to the magnificent Kawarau Gorge, often described as rugged and
awesome and which has been the site of gold mining activity since 1862.
It is also home to several of Central Otago’s famed Pinot Noir
vineyards. We arrive in Queenstown in time to settle in for our two
night’s stay at Coronation Lodge (see coronationlodge.co.nz).
Continental breakfast
and two course dinner included. Lunch at own cost.
Day 8 – Saturday, 16th April
Queenstown
On this, our last full day of the holiday, we
spend the day in quaint and beautiful Arrowtown just a few kilometres
away. The beautifully preserved historic buildings combined with the
colourful autumn coats of the deciduous trees offer a breathtaking
display.
After a session
sketching the huts in the Chinese Settlement the rest of the morning
will be yours to explore and wander through the town where many of the
old shops and cottages are still used today.
We meet up again
after lunch for our final sketching session before returning to
Queenstown for a final review and an hour or two of ‘free time’ before
boarding the heritage coal-fired steamship TSS Earnslaw for a scenic
cruise across Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak High Country Farm.
Our ‘farewell dinner’
will be in the Colonel’s Homestead followed by a short farm tour and
demonstration. We then board the TSS Earnslaw for our return cruise back
to Queenstown.
Continental breakfast and farewell dinner
included. Lunch at own cost.
Day 9 – Sunday, 17th April
Departures today, we will take you to Queenstown
Airport to catch your flights home or to your next destination.
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