Sunday 30th October.
A relaxed day today and a not too early start. Breakfast is available up until 10.00am in ‘The Clubhouse’ either taken in the charmingly restored building itself – once a large granary or outside on the Terrace. Later in the morning we will take our coach into Queenstown for an orientation tour of the town and surrounds before boarding the only remaining passenger-carrying coal-fired steamship in the southern hemisphere the TSS Earnslaw for a three and a half hour cruise over Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak High Country Farm for lunch before returning to Queenstown and some time for a wander around this bustling lakeside town prior to returning to Millbrook. Dinner this evening at the Millhouse Restaurant.
Day 4
And our route today takes us into the heart of the Pyrenees as we travel to the town of Vielha in the ‘Vall d’Aran’. This ‘valley of valleys’ is a beautiful 600-sq km haven of forests and flower-filled meadows, surrounded by towering mountain peaks. We follow the Riu Garona River through the valley passing through tiny villages which have grown up beside the river often around ancient ‘Romanesque’ churches. For those interested in some whitewater rafting the ‘Riu Garona’ has some ‘challenging’ rapids. Our accommodation this evening, the picturesque Parador Vielha. In the restaurant tonight sample some of the typical dishes of the region. The chef suggests: ‘Civet de jabali’, jugged wild boar caught in the mountains or ‘Escalopes de ternera con champignon’, veal cooked in a mushroom sauce.
Awesome expanses of ochre plains stretch to hills crowned with the castles that cover this vast region, its many historic cities preserving some of the county’s most magnificent architectural sights. So states the guide book in an endeavor to describe the Castilla Y Leon region of north central Spain. We travel just 200 kms today through this region as we head to the city of Leon. On our arrival we will take a guided tour of the city after which the remainder of the afternoon is free to wander through the alleyways in the picturesque Old Quarter and to further take in the some of the architectural highlights. The Hostal de San Marcos beside the Bernesga River was originally a monastery, founded during the 12th century to provide lodging for pilgrims travelling to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. This is one of the most beautiful Renaissance buildings in Spain. Magnificent cloisters, which overlook the impressive gardens, were added between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries “Move over pilgrims, for this evening you will be sharing your bed with some modern day travellers”.
And we take a six-hour journey into the Australia’s history and a cruise through the World Heritage protected temperate rainforest of the island’s southwest. The Lady Jane Franklin II departs at 0830 crossing Macquarie Harbour (six times larger than Sydney Harbour) to see if we can enter Hell’s Gates, named because of its narrow opening (around 200 metres) and those who have died trying to navigate its treacherous tides. From here we travel into the wide mouth of the Gordon River and head upstream through dense rainforest to Heritage Landing. This is the uppermost point the Lady Jane Franklin II is permitted to travel. On the return journey we travel to Sarah Island to hear tales tall and true of one of the 19th century’s most isolated and cruel convict jails. Mid afternoon and we take the ‘West Coast Wilderness Rail’ along the 35 kilometre track through the West Coast & rugged King River gorge. The unique Swiss designed Abt rack system drags the train cog by cog through the 1:16 slope to Rinadeena and on to Queenstown from where we travel back by coach to Strahan.
