We drove the road to Glenorchy and stopped at Bob's Cove for a hike. The hike took is along the water and by some very old kilns. These kilns were last used in the 1800's to cook limestone down and get quicklime. The quicklime could be used for mortar for buildings and roadworks as well as a type of fertilizer. These kilns were located right next to the source of the limestone to make things easier. The main problem they encountered was finding a local wood that burned hot enough to drive the carbon dioxide out of the limestone. They ended up importing gm trees from Australia to use as fuel. There re still many of these trees growing in this area. As we were walking we saw the catamaran that we rode on yesterday. It pulled into the cove and turned around. We headed back and went to the Botanical Gardens in Queenstown but only stayed there a short time. The garden is on a promontory into the lake and the wind off the lake picked up something fierce. That chased us off so we headed back and made dinner. It is a travel day tomorrow with 3 hours of driving so we want to get an early start of it. So we got all of our things in order.
We could see many fine vistas of the lake
Bicyclists were abundant
The Ramarkables off in the distance
Our Captain from the boat yesterday complained about the lack of imagination the early settlers had in naming places. We passed 12 mile creek, 12 mile delta, seven mile point and made it to Bob's Cove. I can see his point.
It was hilly
The track was easy
Great views of the cove
This kiln was a bit worse for wear
Folks enjoying the dock
In the sun was warm, in the shade it was cold. there was no middle ground
Looking back to the cove from the dock
Feather duster grasses are so cool
Crystal clear water
Old dock works from the limestone days
Apparently you can just pull your boat up on the bank and leave it there
Lucky the Lizard sunning himself
The boat we rode yesterday
We saw a half dozen kayaks on the shore as well. I hope no one tries to go out on the lake with this poor excuse for a paddle
Hard right turn
Hard left turn
A stone church outside the Botanical Gardens
This was on Church Street
This building was the bathhouse but we had already showered. Actually it is now a café.
The Gardens' entrance
Ducks love the stream at the entrance
A bit of Māori
We find references to the Simpson's in the oddest of places
"Bee the Change" had hives and an informative placard. There were kits that had seeds for bee friendly local plants at the gift shop for kids to take and get involved.
Busy bees, of course they are busy
The Earnslaw came cruising in as we were walking along the lakeside path
Some big boulders and a disc golf course
The stream along the edge of the garden
A huge iron sculpture outside a gallery
I believe it was a scale representation of the Haast's Eagle
