NZ South Island Motorhome Road trip 2018 Day 7

Planned to hike around Lake Wanaka but the weather doesn't looks very good so we decided to drive north and visit the Blue pool. This drive is along Lake Hawea and will bring us past "The Neck" which will allow us to view both Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka.

Morning View from Motorhome

Short 15 min walk

Wish I could swim in here also

View from the bridge

The shore makes me feel like being in Japan, cos a lot of people stack up the stones like a tower , which the Japanese usually do to make wishes. There are a few guys there doing stone skipping , I tried but failed ,,,,, but there was a guy who did it across the bank with like 7 times ?

Random waterfall along the way

Random view point

As predicted, the sky got sunny and clear during noon time and we manage to get some nice view of the lakes and was quite amazed by the cloud , which seems like a striaght line or a ring surrounding us.

Can never get enough taking picture like this

Some rules of Freedom Camping in this area

There is actually quite a few place which you be able to freedom camping but we usually stick to the one stated on Campermate just to be safe cos if you any how park and overnight , It can cost you $200.
More picture of Lake Hawea , was hoping to take picture of the reflection in the Lake but it's quite a windy day so this is the best we can get. The 3rd picture i can't remember was it the "Breast" or the "Butt" but to get there , you will have to cross some private land.

We decided to head back to Lake Wanaka to see the 70 yrs old Wakana tree and maybe stay at one of the nearby Holiday Park BUT plan changed as we really find Lake Wanaka too crowded during the ski season which is very different from our memory ( another part is to save $ on parking )
There isn't any FREE overnight parking near this area which is under the Queenstown Lakes District Council. (like i mentioned above, they only list the no camping zone so there are places whereby you can do Freedom camping but i also mentioned we prefer to on the safer side in order not to get fine ) So we decided to try and push as near to Queenstown as possible instead. Of cos unless you opt for paid parking, else you have to park at the outskirt of Queenstown.

View from the motorhome

Am so glad that we pushed forward to the next overnight parking location - Crown Range Summit. It was a really beautiful place but of cos there are some cons to it. Firstly, as we were rushing to hit before dark , we did skipped a few places that I had hope to stop by for a picture, they were the Cardrona Hotel and the Bra Fence. Another Con was there a lot of people actually stop by the parking area to take pictures after their ski session ( can see from their ski gear) in the evening but they come and go fast. another drawback was that there was a lot of car honking at night , I think is because the road curve nearby the entrance, I believed it's for safety reasons ( and not what some people claimed that the local does not like freedom camping vehicles ) BUT the view of this location is good enough to overthrow all the cons.

Snow mountain top

Sunset

Night view of Queenstown

Actually were lucky to find this place , we had actually set for the spot near Kawarau bridge , which is next to the AJ Hackett Bungy cos at first we  wanted somewhere FREE and also near to Queenstown. It was only halfway along the drive then I found this place on the app and so we decided to check it out.
And the best of all , there is no light pollution here except from the headlight of incoming vehicles on the road nearby. But do not that it does gets very windy and cold here as it's a summit after all. There seem to be a track to hike up to higher ground but we did not attempt.

If you are going to do Freedom Camping like us near Queenstown , do check out this place.