We then set out in search of Paradise, a tiny town nestled deep within these gorgeous mountains. The road quickly went from paved to dirt to some questionable gravel. We passed Diamond Lake and expected the town to come into view shortly after that. It didn't. Or at least not that we could tell. We did pass one or two houses, but hardly anything that constituted a town. We continued on until the road became a bit concerning and the rain started to fall.

Heading out down the gravel road

Snow was starting to appear on the peaks.

The watchers of the valley

Stopping among the dense trees by Diamond Lake

Lush and mossy

Diamond Lake

The town??

Regan makes a friend...

... and another one.

A slight disagreement...

... then friends again.

More steaming water

The rain began to move in so we decided to head back.

On the drive back, we took the dry river bed crossing a bit too quickly and hit the bottom of the car quite hard. It kept going though, so we decided not to look at it until we were at a location where could actually do something about it!

Heading back

The dry river bed

Crossing a bridge

Approaching Lake Wakatipu and Glenorchy

We stopped back in Glenorchy by the lake and did a couple of short walks... after a quick inspection of the car, which seemed to be intact! We set out in one direction, which gave us wonderful views of the mountains, but seemed to just be heading out of town. So we turned back and tried another trail.

An onslaught of frenzied attacking chickens also helped us make the decision to turn back.

We set out a on a short wak along the Lagoon Walkway. It started to get a bit chilly and the sun was setting, so we decided to head back to the car and drive down to Queenstown.

Cute!

Uh... just like that, huh?

Lupine... a flower I recognize from Colorado!

The lagoon didn't have a lot of water so it was somewhat more like a mud flat...but still quite pretty.

Click to see a larger view of Regan's panoramic picture

The sun was making its way down behind the mountains.

One last view of the lake at Glenorchy

The lovely drive back to Queenstown

The last rays of the day

Once in Queenstown, we looked for a place to eat... but all the restaurants were adding a "surcharge" of 10% because it was a holiday. So we just grabbed a couple of sandwiches from Subway (which didn't charge extra) and ate them at the picnic table in the back of the backpackers.

Yay! Moa!

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