Tracy & the Trout, Rob Roy Conquered & Gourmet Feasting

Wednesday November 16, 2011
The day dawned sunny and the skies were clear. No remnants of the torrential rains and wind from the night before. We headed off to our charter boat for fishing. Our guide, Steve (born and raised in NZ & a jet boat pilot) was great. The lake was like a mirror and the trout were waiting, so we headed off -- just us and our guide.

Tracy struck first & a half hour in she brought in a nice trout to w/ in 10 feet of the boat. The fish was having none of it & jumped hook. We tried two more spots with no luck, and then went to a spot that Steve said was a sure bet. Soon Tracy had a nice lake rainbow trout in the boat! But then our time was up on the boat. Such luck & to think this was the most expensive fish we've ever had, but it was worth it.

The weather gods were still smiling & we headed back to Rob Roy glacier and Mt. Aspiring to give the trek another try. The same sheep, cattle, deer, elk & amazing stud bulls were still there, plus black swans & the usual scenery like crashing waterfalls, rushing white water, lush green pastures & hills & snow covered mountains. We packed our rain gear & headed down the trail.

The wind was strong but tolerable. We crossed the swinging bridge & we hung on tight. Tracy has finally overcome her fear of swing bridges, having crossed four or five now.

The trail wound up the mountain clinging to the edge overlooking the rushing white water from the glacier. We huffed & we puffed & we trekked our way up the steep climb & the wind blew so hard we had to lean into it at times. There were areas where slides had happened & the trail was very narrow & steep. The signs said it was 2 hours to the glacier & that's about what it took, plus some sweat & lots of huffing. The glacier loomed over us.

We were entertained by a kea, a large mischievous parrot & an unknown bright orange song bird. A young couple from Belgium visited w/ us. We have met a number of people traveling of New Zealand for months on end. It's a place that is easy to fall in love with & want to live in. We turned down the mountain & almost got blown off the trail. By the time we made it back to the swinging bridge the gale was howling & it was scary. It's hard to describe walking across a swinging bridge when the wind is pushing it sideways. It was rocking & rolling & we were staring down at raging white water 50 feet below & hanging on for dear life. Intense.

The wind pushed us sideways as we walked back to the car park. Back on that gravel road we crossed the 8 Fords, 20KM of cattle guards, & said goodbye to the sheep, cattle, deer, elk & the frisky lambs. Back into room the beautiful rainbow trout awaited us & begged for a butter bath accompanied by a salad & a twice stuffed baked potato. We washed down this feast with a '10 Rimu Grove Chardonnay & '08 Bald Hills Central Otago Last Light Riesling. Talk about getting blown away. Tomorrow, wine country beckons w/ Queenstown as a main course.