If you have ever seen Lord of the Rings, you have seen Glenorchy! The area was used in the movie trilogy, particularly The Fellowship of the Ring. The movie series has created a lot of travel tourism in New Zealand, Director Peter Jackson’s home country.
Once again, the journey was the thing….we drove the 30 miles from Queenstown to Glenorchy following the curvature of Lake Wakatipu, which took about an hour. We stopped several times to take photos, as did everybody else on the road! Each scenic turnout was filled with vehicles. We were stunned to see snow on the peaks as we traveled north and got closer to Glenorchy, but there it is! Parts of the road had tall tree tunnels, where the tops met at times. It is a very pretty drive. Glenorchy itself has two general stores, a trading post, several restaurants and cafes, and several helicopter sightseeing businesses. The road just sort of….ends. Oh, it continues a little way into the mountains, but then it just…ends. The only way back to Queenstown was the way we went! We took a photo outside the Trading Post, as here, almost in the middle of nowhere, we found…a Tesla vehicle charging station! And the last photo touts New Zealand’s and Australia’s favorite food….savory meat pies. Unusual varieties, to boot!
