I haven’t adjusted to NZ time yet so I get to bed later and wake up uncharacteristically early. I walked over to the skyline gondola and had quick trip up and down. I had prebooked the ticket before going which still meant I had to join the queue of people who hadn’t. Pre-booking the ticket seems a little pointless then.There was a great view from the top but all in all it was a little meh. It was hard to beat the man trying to hitchhike with a fridge in the amusing stakes though. It would have been cheaper and more amusing to sit and watch him. ( an edit in regards to this at the bottom of the post)

Then I wandered around the town centre, went to an op shop and then went and checked in to my TSS Earnslaw lunch cruise. The TSS Earnslaw was built in Dunedin in 1912 then dismantled and transported by train to Kingston. It was used by New Zealand Railways to transport supplies to remote farms situated around Lake Wakatipu. The movement and the sound of the steam engine was very soothing. I could have easily nodded off. There was a piano player and a bar/cafe onboard.

We got to Walter Peak and were guided into the BBQ lunch area. It was very yum. They certainly know how to cook red meat well in NZ.

They then showed us how a sheep dog rounds up the sheep, I opted not to watch one get shawn as for some reason that makes me feel faint. The trip was great. The lunch excellent. When I got back to shore I hunted out a cheaper bottle shop than Betty’s liquor ( beware of Betty’s liquor) . It leaves you with the feeling you get just after you have been through the gates at Mt Buller or Falls Creek. It is massively overpriced. Find Henry’s beer wine and spirits instead. Bought some breakfast and walked back past the spot where the man had been trying to hitch hike to see how he had fared. He wasn’t there ,so he either got a lift or is exhausted somewhere from pushing a heavy looking fridge up the steep road out of town. I have since found out the man with the fridge is doing it to raise money for men’s issues. If I had of known that I would have given him the $30 the gondola cost and sat and watched. Tomorrow I am going on a half day wine tour with Appellation Wine Tours. Hopefully it will go past Mt Difficulty winery so that I can tick that off.