Lake Wakatipu

Travelling along Lake Wakatipu from Kingston towards Queenstown are lots of photo opportunities. The lake is magnificent and with snow on the mountains in the distance, too beautiful not to photograph.

It fits with nothing else, though. Just part of our travels that I wanted to share. So just a short post with a couple of pics.

Queenstown is on the shores of the lake in the distance . . . just left of the centre.

At Devils Staircase

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In Search of the Kingston Flyer

Fairlight Station is on the Kingston-Garston Highway, just south of Kingston. It's the southern terminus for the historic Kingston Flyer. The building was originally the Otautau Railway Station and was transported here to Fairlight in 1996. You've no doubt seen it pictured in the TV One adverts, but sadly, as you can see in this photo, it's name has been removed from the front of the building and although grass around the back is mown, no-one appears to be caring for the building.

The station has been closed and unused for some years now. 

There's a large reserve adjacent to this building where self-contained RVs are allowed to stay overnight.

On our first night here, we woke up to this. There had been a sprinkling the day before, but after a frosty start to the day, the sun broke through to highlight this magnificent view.

And in the other direction, through the trees, more snow.

It's a short walk from here to the Mataura River where, apparently, trout can be found. Dave had to investigate the truth of the rumour and sure enough, hooked one, but then lost it. Just a small one, he said, but a trout nevertheless!

There is a suspension bridge over the river that is now part of a rail trail.

The railway line from here to Kingston is 13 kilometres long.

 We decided to drive to Kingston in search of the Kingston Flyer. Kingston is a small town on the southern tip of Lake Wakatipu.

Not far from the lake, we found several abandoned carriages.

And a little further along the track, the Kingston Station and Cafe. They've since closed, but appear to be in better repair than the carriages and Fairlight Station.

There's a picture of the Kingston Flyer in all its glory on the end of the building.

As we followed the tracks along, we eventually found it . . . the Kingston Flyer!

There are two 1920 locomotives—the second was close by.

Also more carriages, all sadly in a poor state. They've not been maintained and appear to be languishing unloved and neglected in this fenced-off yard.

The tracks also have suffered from lack of maintenance. It's been some time since trains travelled along here. I read that the locomotives and carriages with associated land and buildings were sold to an unknown person or persons early in 2017 with settlement later that year. One can only hope that someday they will be restored for all to enjoy, even if that be in a museum/display rather than as a working steam train.

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Gemstone Bay, Monkey Island and Cosy Nook

There are a number of lovely bays and beaches west of Riverton/Invercargill. 

We were staying at one of them—Colac Bay—and one day went exploring to see others.

Gemstone Bay

We'd been told about Gemstone Bay, so this was our first stop. 

At first, I wondered why the name? Then when the surf receded, we saw lots of pebbles exposed on the sand—all smooth and round and very pretty!

Looking down this lovely sandy beach, you might not notice them at first.

But there they are!

Further down the beach, there appeared to be someone living. This explained the signs on the gate we'd seen near where we'd parked. Hopefully, you can read them: "KEEP GATE CLEAR!! MENTAL HEALTH PATIENT LIVES HERE". And if that wasn't enough, "Beware of the DOG" and a faded "Private Property - No Trespassing". There were more warnings on the door to deter nosy people like me. They obviously weren't wanting company—no welcome mat—but I was intrigued by the makeshift home and wondered how watertight it was. Notice how windswept the trees are that form part of the roof. Certainly no palace, but amazing views! There was a window showing through the hole in the sandstone. You can just see the top of it in one of the smaller photos. Maybe it was some of the local children's play area—that might make more sense—but who knows!?

Monkey Island
You can walk out to this island at low tide.

A closer view. Here you can see there are steps up to the top.

There's a lot of red seaweed along these beaches. This one had its fair share.

Monkey Island is situated just to the left of this picture. Another beautiful beach.

Cosy Nook

Looking across the bay as we arrived, we could see a few cribs. It was quite a narrow road that went right through the middle of them. It felt a bit like we were intruding . . . driving up their drive.

Cosy Nook sea views

As we were leaving, the cribs viewed from across the bay.

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Colac Bay

Colac Bay was a superb spot to park up for a few days. At the entrance to the small village was this sculpture of a surfer—Colac Bay is a popular surfing spot.

Looking over the bay towards where we were parked. There are a number of other campers here.
The small shed you can see at the far left is at the end of the road. We're not too far from that.

This was the view from our rig. Off that far point, when the tide went out, you could get mussels off the rocks. We went out for a look one day, but all I managed to do was slip on a rock and get both feet (with shoes on) very wet. Dave went out on his own the next day and came back with a dozen mussels. He's a much better hunter-gatherer than I am! Further around there are paua.

When the tide went out, it was very rocky.

But there were patches of sand exposed, so we managed to go for a couple of nice walks.

Along the surf side of the beach, the road has been washed away and is no longer usable.

Fortunately, you can access the other end further back along the main highway, and this is where the surfers seem to hang out. Across the bay is where we were parked.

Sunrise on our last morning.

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