0260 NEW ZEALAND (South Island) - A hotel for goldseekers

Are two ways to drive between Queenstown (a major centre for snow sports) and Wanaka (the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park), and the most memorable is Crown Range Road (the one from the picture), the highest paved road in New Zealand (1,121m), with 2m higher than the Desert Road. The road zigzags up to the Crown Terrace (a large flat and fertile area) and from there you can look down to Arrowtown in the Arrow Valley, and across to the Remarkables Range.

Next, the road twists and climbs up to the Crown Saddle, and follows the Cardrona creek, then stream which becomes the Cardrona River down the iconic snow Tussock valley until it opens out at Cardrona, heavily populated during the Central Otago goldrush of the 1860s, now little more than a dot on the map.

The second feature of the Crown Range mountains from Otago Region is the Cardrona Alpine Resort, on the slopes of the 1900 metre Mt. Cardrona. As I said, this land is old goldmining country, and the Cardrona Hotel (established in 1863) is one of New Zealand's oldest, with many interesting local artefacts on display in the bar and restaurant.

The stamp is part of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee series, containing 6 stamps, each of them "reflecting Her Majesty's close association with a dedication to New Zealand":
• 2012 Official New Zealand Portrait of Queen (70c)
• 2012 Official New Zealand Portrait of Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh (70c)
• 1986 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in Hastings ($1.40)
• 1981 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh waving to well-wishers from their open car in Wellington ($1.90) – it’s on the postcard
• 1977 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in Wellington ($2.40)
• 1953 The Queen delivering her first Christmas Message at Government House in Auckland, 1953 - the only time a royal Christmas Message has ever been broadcast outside of Britain ($2.90)

References:
Crown Range – Wikipedia
The Crown Range – 100% Pure New Zealand
Cardrona Hotel – Cardrona Hotel
2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee stamps – New Zealand Post


sender: Gordon Drummond / Gordon (postcrossing)
sent from Tauranga (New Zealand), on 17.05.2012