Day 28 Nov 23 2024

We had been having a problem with the van. Water kept appearing on the floor. It wasn’t obvious where it was coming from. I called the Maui campers helpline and they suggested taking it to their Queenstown branch. As Queenstown was on the way to our destination Te Anau, we said that we would.

We spent the night at a campsite in Wānaka. After having had breakfast and a look at the lake, we set off for Queenstown. We would have liked to take the Crown Range Road via Cardrona. But, Maui stated that we would not be insured on that road. So we went the long way round.

While the lowland route was not without its charms, it was not as attractive as the Crown Range.

We arrived in Queenstown round about lunchtime. Everyone there was very pleasant and helpful. So we left the van with them while we headed off and found lunch. After we came back they said that they had found a problem with the water pump. We assumed that they had fixed it. Said thank you and went on our way to Te Anau. We didn’t test it.

The route we took down the side of Lake Wakatipu was really attractive. At the southern end of the lake we found a small town called Kingston. Because we live in Kingston-upon-Thames, we felt we had to visit Kingston-upon-Lake Wakatipu.

We found an attractive village, a cafe and a stream train.

The train is called “The Kingston Flyer “. It runs every Sunday during the season from Kingston to Fairlight and back again.

Afterwards we headed to Te Anau.

We arrived at the Te Anau Top Ten Holiday Park. We parked up and connected the electricity. Then, we switched on the water pump……

It probably wasn’t a completely wasted day. We got to Te Anau. We booked a trip to Milford Sound for the next day while we waited for the van to be “fixed”. I also bought myself a bottle of New Zealand whisky.