They made Queenstown famous
In the mid 1960′s I was making a living shearing sheep in a place that was either too hot or too cold and the locals called it Queenstown. One day a local said this is wonderful place it has a lake a river and lots of rocks why dont we turn it into a tourist town. We could build a restaurantthe top of that hill and get some wire rope and tie some chairs to it to take the people from the bottom of the hill up to the restuarant and down again. A few of the locals believed it was a good idea so all dubbed in some money and made it happen. They called the chairlift a gondola and printed postcards with its picture and sold them to people from all around the world. They called on all the travel agents and told them that Queenstown was one of the most wonderful places in the world because it had a lake, a river, a mountain, lots of pretty rocks and it even snowed in the winter. The travel agents believed their story and started sending bus loads of people to this new found Tourist Paradise. The locals welcomed the tourists and they even built an international airport amongst the rocks
How State Highway 1 got forgotten
The people in the McKenzie country seized the opportunity and the bus drivers were given a few backhanders to bypass state highway 1 and make Geraldine the gateway to Queenstown.
Tekapo, Mt Cook, Wanaka and Cromwell all these towns all grew because they were on the Tourist track to Queenstown. Timaru South Canterbury that was once a tourist destimation decided to change its name to Aoraki, and Aorangi from Central South Island and they built a bypass away from the City. After a few years tourists stopped coming to Timaru an now the locals are saying what happened to us what can we do. Timaru is in the centre of the South Island its the half way point between Dunedin and Christchurch. It has a port that can take very large cruise ships. It is the home of many icons such Caroline Bay, Hydro Grand Hotel, Phar Lap and Richard Pearse the inventor of the worlds first flying machine and many other world famous icons.
My reason for this Journey
My purpose for this journey is to promote business in order to bring the tourist traffic back along New Zealand’s main highway SH1.
On Sunday the 1st of November 2009 I will travel by car from Timaru to Lands End at the southern most point of the South Island where I will begin my journey along SH1 to the Cape Reinga lighthouse at the most northern end of New Zealand. Stay tuned to this travellers guide website because I will be giving you a daily running commentary on all the places and people I meet.
