I got up early (e.g. 9am) because I had nearly 300 kilometers to drive to Queenstown. The lovely hosts of my Burkes Pass Motel gave me a couple of tips. So many in fact that I could easily drive on another two weeks, to cover that.

Why read a 500 page Lonely Planet? Just ask the locals, they will map it out… I did take a few things into account today.

But first, a trip back up Mt. John to the Observatory. The nighttime view is fascinating, but the daytime view is not to be missed, either. On top, they have the Astro Café, serving breakfast.

So I stopped there for bagels and cream cheese and another photo session, before heading on South to Lake Pukaki. There I had quick photo opportunity for Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain, standing 3724 meters tall.

Aoraki, its original name, was too far off my itinerary to make a detour, even though the look over the lake was stunning. Next time.

A long drive South took me over Lindis Pass, the highest point on the South Island’s state highway network. This part of the island is surprisingly dry. I was expecting the South to be all lush and green and rainy. But this was dry and hot, reaching 28 degrees today, and with all grass dry and yellow…

On top, I made a quick stop and ran into this Italian couple. Traveling through New Zealand, they ran out of money and now have this out-of-the-trunk coffee and crepe stand, offering free drinks and crepes, but hoping for donations, to cover their expenses for the next two months of their trip. The idea was so charming, I just had to taste their Nutella and coconut crepe.

The drive down on the other side was breathtaking. Eyes firmly on the road, don’t look down. Endless curves and a foot constantly on the breaks. My hosts had warned me of that part.

But when I thought it was finally over… the real ‘Devils staircase’ only just began. The most winding road ever, with u-turns every 200 meters, so sharp as possible from any car construction point of view…

In the distance, the hills and valleys leading up to Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. Before that, one last stop, as recommended by my hosts, in historic Arrowtown.

Nestled between high mountains, it is a beautifully restored old gold diggers’ town, with lots of shops and restaurants, and beautiful trees.

It also has a Chinese district, probably the first Chinatown in New Zealand, home to hundreds of Chinese miners and gold diggers during the gold rush in the 19th century. Of course they were discriminated, ignored, abused and exploited.

Today, the site hosts a number of old remaining shacks and recalls the history of New Zealand’s first Chinese immigrants. In fact, before the relaxation of the immigration laws in the 1980s, most New Zealanders of Chinese origin could trace their ancestors back to this little town and to the men who came from the Canton region to dig for gold.

Last 20 kilometers, and I am finally in Queenstown. Indeed, a town, it even has a real center, called CBD. Even though it only has close to 17.000 inhabitants, it feels bigger. It is overrun by tourists.

Germans, French, Swedes, droves of Japanese and Chinese tourists. The Europeans mostly early Twenties, young, flip-flops or über-equipped with gear, backpacking. The Asians a bit older, more distinguished.

We’re all here on our individual tours, but doing essentially the exact same trip, finding ourselves in front of the same places, taking the same picture the gazilionst time.

It’s nice to have a real town with shops, and bars and restaurants (and tour operators: racing, jet-skiing, mountain climbing, air gliding, bungee jumping…). However, it feels a little bit over the top.

I had a beer, and then headed home, to blog, to bed.