Lake Moeraki - Wilderness Lodge

We had a nice stay at Lake Moeraki. The lodge and grounds are gorgeous and there were 12 other travelers with us on the first night, mostly from the UK. Our host Gerry, gave us a welcome briefing, and talked a little about the lodge, eco-tourism, and his mission to save New Zealand as part of the Nature Heritage Fund. Apparently, tourism from the US has been off the charts for NZ post-covid.

This area is in a rainforest and it poured the first night and the next morning. All the morning hikes were cancelled because of the rain, so we decided to drive to the beach and wait for the sun to come out. We found a funky place to eat, and by the time we got back to the lodge, the sun was out. We joined the evening nature walk, watched our guide feed the eels in the river, and discussed the trees and birds that live in this area. Dinner on day 2 brought a large group from NY, and we had a nice time chatting with fellow travelers, many of whom had been at the Australian Open. Here are a few photos of the lodge and the beach.

On Saturday morning, we headed south to Queenstown. It took about 4 hours, with lots of beautiful waterfalls, lakes and vistas along the way. We arrived, grabbed lunch downtown, and checked into our apartment. Only 4 more days here in NZ, then we'll begin the long trip home. Here are some pics from the drive south. Our trusty rental car has served us well, and we've covered 2,500 km in the past 10 days!