Since there were no scheduled group activities this day, the two of us decided to go for a hike on The Queenstown Hill Walking Track despite intermittent rain.

Along the way, we stopped at a grocery store, as we often do, to see what the locals have to pay for food.  Bacon was about $18.00 a pound and eggs were over $7.50 a dozen US.  This was a store in a tourist area keep in mind.

We then walked up through some neighborhoods to the trail head. The well-maintained trail was about three miles out and back with about 1200′ elevation gain.  Along the way we saw a cairn garden, many fungi, and flowers like the foxgloves shown. It was very windy at the top, but the views of Lake Wakatipu were well worth it!

Invasive species are problematic in New Zealand because they have many flightless birds, like kiwis.  The pink markers and yellow boxes are traps for possums and other carnivores. They are checked regularly.

Wilding conifers are another invasive species.  In some of the photos there are large swaths of dead trees. These have been killed off by authorities and left to rot and will eventually be replaced by native or non-invasive trees.