Queenstown and Wanaka

Greetings, faithful reader. Today I drove from Te Anau to Queenstown, a tony lakeside town that reminds me of Jackson Hole. It is very tourist oriented with numbers of high end restaurants and stores. The lodging was high end too, so I decided to drive a bit further to Wanaka. There is a lake here also, and a smaller, less trendy, town. I got a cheap motel that reminds me of the Peaks of Otter Lodge in Virginia: no phone, TV or internet in the room. I am making this posting from the lobby where they have wireless internet for a fee.

I will hang here tomorrow and spend the night again before deciding whether to return to Christchurch Wednesday or go further up the west coast of NZ to Greymouth before returning to Christchurch on Friday or Saturday. It's nice to be free to choose.

Speaking of freedom, although I haven't gotten the absolute final word, it is looking more and more like I will not have to return to the Ice for winter. The South Pole station is fulled staffed and the last provider for McMurdo is scheduled to arrive today into Christchurch. Assuming all goes well and that provider makes it to McMurdo without a hitch, I will probably be taken off call on Wednesday.

I left my camera's charger in Christchurch (oops!) so my photos from here on will probably be very limited. My camera does not take replaceable batteries, opting instead for a built-in battery that needs periodic recharging. I've currently got a half-charge on it. Speaking of that, I want to assure you that Troublemaker, a rollerskate of a car, is still performing well after its repair in Dunedin.

That's it for today. I'll keep you posted on what I see and do tomorrow in Wanaka.