Tiki Walking Track - Ben Lomond Forest

It is time for some down-hill walking.

Today is a good day - cool and overcast.

I board the Skyline gondola to Bob's Peak.  

The Tiki trail  begins near the luge track.  

To the left is the  ZipTrek platform, I pause and enquire but the next booking time is 3 hours away. 

So I continue walking down the trail which is intersected by mountain bike trails. Keep a watch for bikes.

The ZipTrek route is in the same forested area as the Tiki Trail. 

A clue. 

Tiki walking track is going to be steep in parts. 

I'd like some company, so please...

Come, walk with me.

First let's go up in the gondola.

Over the luge track, past the lupins and daisies bordering the trail...

Stop awhile to watch the Ziptrek punters begin their trip through the forest.

The first part of the track is the vehicular access route to the Skyline station.

Wilding pines are flourishing the areas that have been recently cleared of pines.

Down we go on to the rock strewn Tiki Track...

lots of zigzags...

Southern beech are in abundance here.

The track becomes steeper

and rockier...

Some zip trekkers have to walk to the last station.

 I feel as if I am getting closer to the lake...

Perhaps I should have chosen to walk the track around the Queenstown gardens which lies far below me.

Steps lead...

to a resting place.

Onwards.
My photos don't capture how rough and steep the trail becomes.
I am ever so glad that I wore my tramping boots and that I brought my walking poles.

I think that track maintenance is overdue on this section of the track.

I am wishing I had zip-trekked this rough patch...

The end is nigh...

Hallelujah!
Will I try the Zip trek? Watch this space...

Moke Lake - expect the unexpected.

Fern and I begin the day with getting berries, elderberry cordial, herbs, cheeses, german liver pate, bacon and black pudding at the Remarkables Farmers' Market.  Then off we go to The Boatshed for breakfast.

It is a perfect Queenstown Day.

I plan to walk around Moke Lake today. 

I have decided to take photographs along the path so that you can sense the joy of the walk.  

Farm fences are protected with climbing styles and boardwalks keep my feet dry.

I meet some wonderful people along the way. People from North Wales, Boston and Sweden. 

Where are the kiwis?

Come, walk with me….

I leave the meadows at the top of the lake...

Over the style and along the board walk with ducks swimming nearby.

 Briar roses, fox gloves, daisies  and Elder flowers dot the path.

The last part of the walk is on the road.

A kind and considerate driver in a red rental car passes me very slowly to reduce the dust.

The car stops a hundred metres ahead of me. 

It turns out that they are visiting locations in Jane Campion's New Zealand TV series The Top of the Lake which had been broadcast in Sweden where they live.

 Oh how I love the serendipitous friendship that happens.
Rolf and Ewa join Fern, Margie and me for dinner at our home.

 A perfect Queenstown Day!

New Year's Day, 2014 - Expect the Unexpected.

Sunrise over the Remarkables at 6.am.

Within the hour it snowed.