Getting to Queenstown and Deer Park

We were really glad we didn't make the drive to Queenstown in the dreariness of Wednesday, because Thursday came up crystal clear and beautiful. We were back on the road, driving through some spectacular mountains. Here is one example of the scenery as we got close to Queenstown:



Beautiful, right? That's totally typical, and the picture doesn't even really do it justice. Just when you think New Zealand couldn't possibly be more beautiful, you turn the corner and it proves you wrong.

We pulled into Queenstown in the early afternoon and decided to check out Deer Park Heights. The sign said it was a "working deer farm", but we saw llamas, goats, deer, and donkeys as we drove through. In additon to being a working farm, it is also where many of the scenes from Rohan were shot for LotR.

I forgot to upload a recognizable movie location picture - sorry about that - but I do have some great pics from the Feed Station at the park. Here's what it looked like when we pulled up. Notice the expectant looks on the animals' faces. They know that some suckers have arrived to feed them! And yes, they are running over towards the van. The barrel on the left dispenses food for visitors to give to the animals.



We got some food, and it got crazy! The goats jumped all over us and also bleated to each other across the fields to come running! Rebecca and I both got dirty from the goats pawing us!





And Rebecca's favorite, the llamas:



We left the park and went to check in at the campervan site. Here I had my first (and only!) "incident" with driving the van, but I'll have to leave you in suspense because I'm out of online time. I'll just tell you that thanks to two very nice Aussies and an awesome Kiwi, everything turned out okay in the end! That was yesterday - today we went to Milford Sound, so I promise some awesome pictures!