You will drive along the turquoise colored Lake Pukaki, in which the snow-covered peaks of the 3000m high Southern Alps are reflected in good weather. From here it is not far to Aoraki/Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand at 3754m.

The journey continues through the McKenzie Basin to Omarama, the "place of moonlight", with its bizarre silty sandstone rocks, a paradise for glider pilots because of its special thermals.

Sparse rainfall makes this highland appear as a barren steppe landscape. Vast tussock meadows, which cover the hills like a carpet, transform the landscape into a peculiar looking inner alpine basin landscape.

You cross the Lindis Pass (971 m) and reach Central Otago and soon after Queenstown, which is often called the "St. Moritz of the South Seas". Due to its beautiful mountain location on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, the small resort town of Queenstown has developed into the popular tourist center of the South Island. The elongated lake stretches between steeply rising mountain ranges.

You will spend the rest of today in this scenery. You can take an optional cable car ride to Bob's Peak (Lookout Mountain), for a magnificent view of the adventure capital of New Zealand and the surrounding mountains. There you will also find the Stratosfare Restaurant.