New Zealand 2017 - Day 19: Queenstown: Lake Alta, Skipper's Canyon, Mount Dewar

Monday, March 6 - Wendy Gave Dennis THE DAY OFF - so I'm doing "The Big Stuff" today!:

Wait - that looks kind-of-boring - 3:19 driving 104 km - what's the big deal?
let's zoom-in on the morning section:

and see it in Terrain mode

Now that's MORE LIKE IT!

Now, what does the afternoon drive look like:


Now that's what I'm looking for!

I left the hotel at 10 and headed east to The Remarkables Ski Area. Yesterday I found information about the Lake Alta Track:


IT LOOKS PERFECT!!

It was a beautiful morning drive up to the Ski Area:



I find it a bit disconcerting that they feel the need to post a 50 km-per-hour speed limit on a gravel/dirt road that has a MOUNTAIN on one side and a CLIFF on the other:


Are they still just "building the road"??


Hiking up the "ski slope", I am looking down at the funky ultra-modern black ski lodge:

and then turned around to see the hikers ahead of me:

here they are:


And this is a shot back down the valley from their location:


Above the ski lift, the area seems pretty elemental:


My first shot of Lake Alta, with a person in red for scale/reference:





And I thought - how high up did they go to get that picture on their website? So UP I went - I got pretty high up the skree field (not all the way to the top - enough is enough) and got some pretty cool shots:




Then it was time to head back down the mountain.

There was a nice hill at one of the turn-outs, so I climbed it:

there were EXCELLENT VIEWS: to the south:

to the west:

to the north (the delta of the Shotover River):

and to the east:


Farewell to The Remarkables - they were GREAT today!


I went back through Queenstown to buy a brochure at the DOC, and I SAW WENDY!! (we blew each other kisses, before she headed off to Alpine Aqualand for swimming)


I headed north for my afternoon adventure. I made it 10 km up to Skippers Rd, with its beautiful views back into the valley:


and its WARNING:


Skippers Road is a gravel/dirt road that is VERY DANGEROUS:

I stopped to let 6 motorbikes pass, and the 1st guy chatted with me. I said "I can't believe they let cars drive on this thing!" and he said "Well, it is the 7th most dangerous road in the world." I told Wendy this when I got home, and she went online - it turns out it is not the 7th "most dangerous road in the world" - IT IS THE 3RD!!!!!

Oh yea - that bit about "car insurance won't cover your rental car" - Totally True!!

On the awesome plus side, I could swear I saw King Kong resting on my way down into the Canyon:


Please don't get distracted looking at the canyon walls:

I only had to back-up twice on the way down, and once on the way back up.

Skipper's Canyon itself is REALLY BEAUTIFUL:




and that's where I called it a "canyon drive":


Back down the road to the trailhead for my hike up Mount Dewar. I was able to photo two mountain-bikers right before they set off down the hill:

while I headed up:

There was a lovely little pond by the trail on the way up:

The hike up Mount Dewar is kind of steep:

but the views at the top are WELL WORTH IT!!




Home at 5:30 for a 6 PM deadline. WHAT AN ADVENTURE DAY, and THANK YOU GOD for these wonderful adventures in these Beautiful Places!!

Music today - music from my big iPod:
Because it was me-myself-and-I, I listened to some kind-of-loud music:

Joe Jackson - Summer in the City: Live in New York, 2000 live


Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense, 1984 live


Jeff Beck - Truth, 1968


Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin, 1969

It has been written: "Time has done nothing to diminish the quality of one of the finest debut albums ever recorded. There's an urgency and enthusiasm about their performance that retains timeless charm." I certainly agree!