Kinloch

On Friday, we found ourselves in the Queenstown region. Having been told by a few people that Queenstown is overly commercial, touristy and a bit rubbish, we decided to head for the tiny hamlet of Kinloch, at the "kin" of "loch" Lake Wakatipu. Almost as soon as we arrived at the Kinloch DOC campsite and paid our fees, the heavens opened. We spent most of the afternoon sheltering from the rai in the cafe at Kinloch Lodge drinking coffee and trying to work out what we were going to do. We went for a quick drive around the area but didn't dare go out for long in the pouring rain.

After rehydrating a freeze dried meal for dinner and fighting a losing battle trying to keep our side awning upright, we retired to bed. The next morning was much better. The rain had stopped and we were finally able to see what a beautiful spot we had camped in:



A guy from Kinloch lodge took us out kayaking on the lake for an hour which was great fun, albeit a bit tiring/scary when the wind really picked up on the way back.

We left Kinloch and headed towards Queenstown, passing some beautiful scenery on the way:



When we reached Queenstown, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that, while it was commercial and touristy, it wasn't completely rubbish.