Early Bird Catches the Worm. Or Sunrise.

My transfer car had to be in Queenstown by 8:45 this morning due to the contract of getting the car for free. When I was telling this to the receptionist at the hostel in Wanaka, she warned me that the shorter route through the Crown Range has a tendency to ice over, and so even though it may technically be faster, there is a good chance it will take more time based on conditions around the hairpin turns and waiting for trucks to put chains on.

The issue was that I was already past my allotted kilometres and would have to pay 30 cents per kilometre I travelled. I was okay with this since the few extra dollars I would have to pay allowed me to go see the Rob Roy Glacier, but given the choice between safe roads and money savings, I naturally took the short cut. To make up for the possible delays on this route, I was on the road by 6:45 – an hour before sunrise.  Since it was a Sunday and ridiculously early, I could count the cars that I passed on one hand. The temperature was floating just above 0, and even though there was frost on the cars parked in Wanaka, there was none on the road. My early rise ended up being incredibly rewarding as I was just in time for a spectacular sunrise over the Crown Range that looks out over Queenstown. The mountains were turning pink, the fog in the valley added some wonderful mystery, and there was just me, myself, and I to enjoy it.