The drive to Glenorchy!
After a verryyy long day of travel (depart Brisbane at 5:45pm, land in Christchurch at 12am, depart Christchurch at 7am) we landed in Queenstown around 8:30am on November 18th. I was fighting my every urge to sleep on the plane because the plane ride was so breathtaking. Out one window coming into Queenstown we could see the ocean and out the other unbelievable snow capped mountains - called the Southern Alps. After landing we made our way to Glenorchy, where we had booked our first nights stay. When booking places for Queenstown, we were unaware at the time that the Queenstown International Marathon was going on the same weekend we planned to be there - which brings in about 9,000 runners (plus families) into this small town of about 12,000 people. So, needless to say, housing options were limited. So the first night we stayed in Glenorchy which is about 45 minutes outside of Queenstown. The majority of the drive is along Lake Wakatipu, which is New Zealand's longest lake. The colors were amazing - steep bright green mountains jutting out of bright blue water. It is said to be one of the most scenic drives in the world, and I would agree! Once arriving in Glenorchy, we checked in to our bed and breakfast and then I headed out to an area just north of there called Paradise, where they filmed some of the Lord of the Rings. Now, I'm not a fan of the Lord of the Rings (and I haven't seen any of the movies) but they sure know how to pick movie locations. The drive to the location was through part of Mount Aspiring National Park - there were stunning green snow capped mountains. After seeing the amazing scenery I decided I may have to give the movies a try.
The next morning we did a walk in Glenorchy and checked out more of the lake (a popular wedding photography spot we learned) and the small town, we headed back down to Queenstown. Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of New Zealand so there is a lot of advertising for bungee jumping, jet boating, sky diving, mountain biking, and zip lining. Luckily (as mentioned before) Allie and I are about the same level of adventurous (not a lot) so we had already gone in to Queenstown not planning to do any of these crazy things. Our first day there we checked out all the marathoners finishing the race and checked out the town. The town of Queenstown is very cute and reminded me of a small Colorado ski town.
The rest of our time in Queenstown we hiked to the top of the Skyline Gondola (amazing views of the lake and the mountains) and walked through the Queenstown Gardens - a beautiful park and gardens right next to the lake. We also ate at Ferg Burger, a famous burger joint in town. After hiking up to the Gondola we were pretty hungry but decided to wait the 45 minutes (and a 50+ person line) to get a burger. Both Allie and I were pretty skeptical about how good this burger could be (we had heard from quite a few people to go there) but weren't sure what all the fuss was about. The fuss was worth it! The burger was one of the best I have ever had! I can't even describe why, it was just so delicious.
Up next we are headed to Te Anau, which is near Milford Sound!
Highlights:
1. Glenorchy - a very quaint town but there were a couple great walks and some great scenery.
2. Hike to the top of the Skyline Gondola in Queenstown!
3. Ferg Burger - so worth the wait!
Lessons Learned:
1. Roads in New Zealand are much narrower and windier than in Australia. And there are no passing lanes!
2. I cannot get over the scenery in New Zealand - it is just so beautiful.
3. The kiwi accent is much different than the Aussie accent. We have to refocus!
4. Aotearoa is the Maori Name for New Zealand, meaning "The Land of the Long White Cloud." Many of the town names, landmarks, lakes, etc. are Maori words which are difficult for us to pronounce! The Maori people are the indigenous people of New Zealand and the Maori language is one of New Zealand's official languages.
5. We are still directionally challenged.
Thanks for reading!
View from the Skyline Gondola.
The road to Paradise!