South Island Road Trip Part 3

 At a approximately 8:23 I awoke to the sound of a family rushing to get out the door. There were noises of zips on suitcases opening, cutlery clinking and clanking against porcerlain and mild chatter from the parents. After a short while of getting ready to leave we finally did. A short drive in the car down the road was all it took to make it to the Whitestone Cheese Cafe . We were waiting for a while until the cheese tour guide put us in his white van and drove us down the road. Once there we headed into the conference room where a couple from Brisbane was awaiting us. In the conference room were lots of slabs of wood. These "slabs" of wood were actually trophies and awards on how good their cheeses are. On this tour, there was the tour guide, a family of five, and two couples - one from brisbane the other was from south korea. A couple minutes later, we were all seated with our high vis vests on and watching a video on how cheese is made. After a short walk we had made it...

We had high hopes for today. Jane and I got up at our usual time and went wandering into Twizel for coffee. It was after 7am, so assumed that we could find a place, and we did manage to find one place open. It was staffed by seasonal workers, so while they were enthusiastic, the coffee was pretty average. I took the opportunity to buy some sandwiches for our adventures.  There isn't much in town - the bank is non-branded and services the major NZ brands - but the playground is very large.  Back at the backpackers, we started on breakfast and making wraps and corn for lunch. We made good progress on finishing up food that we had purchased for the trip.  All packed and ready with food, water and warm layers by 8:30am, we then drove towards Mt Cook Village, excited for our day ahead. There was a fair bit of cloud cover, so we couldn't get the "money shot" of Aoraki and the Alps from the road in. The drive was mostly speedy and uneventful, though there was one small incid...

 We decided we wanted to get out of town by 9am, and we did pretty well to do so as planned. Stop one was Cromwell. We liked the big fruit sign (but didn't feel the need to get a photo) and drove past the orchards from whom we have had stone fruit deliveries in the past. Our first stop was a cafe for a coffee. An injured Davie has slowed us down for sure. We found an op shop which had not one, but three identical sequined tops - and with some encouragement and fun, all three kids were festuned and photographed - expect them to appear on a community newsletter one day. The sparkly tops The signs helped us realise we were not where we wanted to be We knew there was a heritage village somewhere in Cromwell, and thankfully there were signs to tell us where to go. Back into the car - and what a delight. There are many buildings rebuilt and moved after they were flooded in the making of the Clyde Dam. There are cafes, lovely gift stores and cool displays.  The next stop was Alexandr...