Queenstown, NZ

We left Christchurch for our last stop in New Zealand which was Queenstown located inland towards the southwest of the South Island. As with all of our drives this too was very scenic especially when we got near the mountains and the glacier fed lakes...

The mountains in the distant were still snow covered...

The tallest peak is Mt.Cook. This turquoise lake is Lake Tekapo...

And the lakes are all different shades of blue...

As we passed over the Southern Alps we again passed wide open spaces...

Then into the Central Otago wine region which has a hundred or more wineries...

The most popular wine grown here given the climate is Pinot Noir.

Queenstown is one of New Zealand’s top tourist destinations with over three million visitors a year. It is a resort town of a little less than 20,000 located on the shores of Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by the dramatic Southern Alps....

We stayed for a week in an AirBnB on top of one of the highest hills overlooking the lake...

We were in the bottom level of the A Frame and the host family lived above us. Our views were spectacular...

This mountain range to our left is called The Remarkables and in winter is very popular for skiing. They were also featured in The Lord of the Ring series as were lots of other places in New Zealand. There are even tours to the locations where the series was filmed, not being fans we wouldn’t recognize any of them.

Loved the sky...

As elsewhere in New Zealand there are trails everywhere and Queenstown being no exception, we would walk different ones down the hills into town...

Admiring the view halfway down...

The main center of town is by the lake and very busy with lots of shops and activities...

Many boat tours...

Lots of places to eat and drink...

Market stalls in the square...

There was a lovely walk around the lake...

Trying to remember to have our picture taken...

Enjoying the view...

And the water...

Every time we walked by there were people enjoying the scenery...

At one end of the lake there is a large public garden similar to those we have seen elsewhere...

And of course the roses...

Being “the adventure capital of the world” there are lots of activities to try including bungee jumping...

Kiwi adventurer AJ Hackett was responsible for turning this adrenaline-inducing activity into a commercial venture. The year was 1988; his venue of choice was Queenstown’s Kawarau Bridge, where to this day, thousands of visitors from all corners of the globe continue to muster up the courage to plunge towards the rapid river currents below.

Here is a closer look...

Interesting however is the history...

We can definitely credit Hackett — and Queenstown — for putting New Zealand on the adventure map; but the act of bungee jumping itself precedes his adventurous pursuits. It all started in Vanuatu, where people would tie themselves to a few vines before leaping off towers and elevated surfaces. The activity, locally-known as ‘land-diving’, was believed to have come to life after a mistreated wife saved herself from impending death after some vines kept her from falling down the massive tree from which she had leapt — for a while, the event was exclusively reconstructed by women, but eventually men also took to it.

There was paragliding, parasailing, aqua shark riding and so much more...

Queenstown and area was settled when in 1850 gold was discovered and brought many settlers to the area. We took a day trip to the nearby town of Arrowtown where gold was discovered in the Arrow River. You can still pan for gold today...

We walked the trail by the Arrow River which took us a couple of hours...

Getting ready to swing across the River...NOT! The old guy’s back can’t stand it now! 

What a beautiful place to live! 

The town itself is small but has preserved about 70 buildings from the gold rush era and it has turned into a popular tourist destination...

Still using our trusty bus pass we also visited Wanaka which is about 100 Kms away and feels like a miniature version Queenstown. It too is located on a lake...

Surrounded by more wineries...

We got our exercise by doing the walk around the lake but had lots of company with hundreds of runners competing in a triathlon...

Again we commented on how close the people here are to nature and how accessible it is, we were very impressed by the electric public bbqs we saw people using everywhere and they were so clean!

This lady was cooking her lunch as we sat near by...

We were disappointed not to see the glaciers on the west coast because of the rain and when we arrived in Queenstown we discovered a very popular trip to Milford Sound was cancelled as the washed out roads were still not repaired...

We were fortunate to book the alternate which was a 12 hour trip to Doubtful Sound, 2 hours by bus, 1 hour across a lake, a half hour over a gravel road to reach this very remote place and then a 3 hour boat ride on the Sound. And on top of that the forecast was calling for the end of a tropical cyclone but off we went! 

And the rain started as we crossed the first lake...

This part of New Zealand is called Fiordland and is a very remote and wet area receiving over 7 metres of rain a year so we didn’t expect much sun. After the lake we had to drive over Wilmot Pass ( 2200 ft high) on a gravel road which was built about 50 years ago to bring supplies in to construct a huge hydro project. Without this project Doubtful Sound would not be accessible.

And the rain kept coming...

This was our destination from the top of the pass looking down, not my picture as it was too rainy to take one...

Doubtful Sound was named Doubtful Harbour by James Cook in 1770 as he would not enter it fearful he would not be able to navigate it. It was later named a Sound even though it is a fiord about 40 kms long.

Our boat was waiting...

And our cruise began showing us the beauty of Doubtful Sound...

The mist came and went with the rain but it was beautiful...

And then the sun started to peek through...

There were hundreds of waterfalls with the highest being over 800 meters but the pictures can’t capture their beauty...

Getting close to one...

We were hoping to make it out to the Tasman Sea but the wind picked up...

There was only one other boat on the sound so it was very quiet, the captain stopped the engines for awhile and we enjoyed the sound of silence in such an awesome spot...

So many shades of gray...

And on the way back there was an awesome sunset, a great end to a magical day...

And so ends our New Zealand adventure...six weeks have passed so quickly and even though New Zealand is a small country there is still so much to see. The country is beautiful, the travel is relaxing, the people friendly so it has moved up our list of countries that we would highly recommend. Now on to Australia!