After a day in the coach this was a chance to stretch
legs, with 500 metres of rocky ascent to the top of Rocky Mountain,
overlooking Lake Wanaka. Accompanied by the buzzing of strimmers from a
workgang clearing the path we climbed steeply up to a viewpoint over
Diamond lake, a round glacial lake with a millpond surface on our way
up and ruffled on our way down. This was our first non-gravel or
relatively level New Zealand path - in fact reminiscent of the Lakes
with many rocky outcrops and damp areas. The grassy hill was covered in
meadow flowers: daisies, white harebells, and hawkbits. Mullein and
Foxgloves lurked off the path. By lunchtime we had conquered this area,
so we moved to the nearby river for a picnic. A hardy paddling trio
proved that the river was way too cold for swimming.... 
Whilst in town to buy our
picnic supplies we came across the greenest recycling system I have
ever
seen - recycling by cycle! This guy cycled around town, emptying all
the street recycling bins, of which there were many. 
The great ascent of Mount
Roy, paid for so dearly, began at 9 a.m. and simply involved a
relentless climb on a relatively steep grass all the way to the summit
for those with the energy - an ascent of 1250m. Luckily almost as good
views were to be had from the ridge, a mere 1000m from the start. On
the way hundreds of birds familiar to us Brits were flitting around the
bushes and clumps of grass - goldfinch, greenfinch, redpoll, skylarks,
pipit, and thrush to name but a few. At least everyone passed the
'test' - of ascending more than is involved in crossing the Mackinnon
Pass on the Milford Trek (which is a mere 700m of ascent)!
Mount Aspiring
Time
to move on again, this time to Queenstown 'Adrenalin Capital of New
Zealand' - right! On our way we had the briefest of glimpses at a
cloud-free Mount Aspiring, at last. 
This was followed by a delightful drive up a winding valley, through the village of Cardrona with its row of three authentic old buildings and an old Ford. A third photo stop later we descended on the former gold-mining town of Arrowtown, for coffee and lunch, separated by a 350m ascent up a gravel track to look at roughly the same view we had seen an hour earlier from the coach...only joking! It was a great viewpoint, made even better by the warm sun. Arrowtown had a community of Chinese miners in the late 19th century and the site of the settlement,on the edge of the town centre under the riverside willow trees, has been excavated and some dwellings (more like hovels) reconstructed. A quirky bit of history amid the other gold-era relics - like the altered landscape due to the sluicing the gold miners did to get at the alluvial gold.
The original Cardrona Hotel frontage
There must be a good view over the hill!
After what felt too much like a holiday (relaxing, beer or ice-creams etc.) we set off on the last lap to Queenstown and our huge modern hotel, where we had to take the lift down to our room - all very up-side down!Saturday 24 Jan
Another mountain climb today - Ben Lomond. The first 400m
were easily dispensed with by using the gondolas, after that it was an
increasingly hot slog! Everyone managed the scenic route up the ridge
leading to the main path up Ben Lomond. This ridge path was full of
interest - often vertical interest - and a number of rocky outcrops to
be skirted around. Everyone safely reached the col (and only bench)
400m below the summit of Ben Lomond, and 7 fit souls made it to the
top. The reward was uninterrupted views in all directions - we could
even see Mount Aspiring to the NNW and the clouds amassing in the
valleys towards Milford Sound to the SW. This was the sunniest and
hottest day we had had so far, and a number of pink areas of flesh were
on show in the evening. I met up in the evening with one of the drivers from last years tour - Dawn, the only woman driver working for the coach firm, and avid mountain biker whilst the clients were walking. Good to see she hadn't changed and was still flitting between casual jobs in the UK and New Zealand, and enjoying life.
Our last day in Queenstown,
and time to go to the head of Lake Wakatipu at Glenorchy to walk the
first part of the Routeburn Track. The high wispy clouds should have
warned us that a front was on its way, but we didn't realise until we
stopped to take photos of the lake and saw the dark low clouds
ahead, and were almost blown off the road. The windscreen wipers
were in action shortly afterwards!