Chatham Islands and New Zealand 2012: Queenstown

My Favourite pictures are at the bottom of the post, enjoy.

Monday 9^th April 2012

This morning we had a leisurely breakfast in the lounge, taking in the last views of Mt. Cook. We left around 9:30am, on the road to Queenstown, with a few unknown stop-offs along the way. The first stop we made was fairly early on, to the Clay cliffs (recommended by Lonely Planet). I was a bit sceptical at first, but they were more exciting than they sound and gave some impressive views! By this stage the sun was shining (approx. 20C) and we saw no signs of the forecasted drizzle!

After another hour or so (I was asleep), we got to a bridge with some lovely autumnal colours. We were at River Clutha and the colour of the trees, alongside the pristine water gave some good pictures (I hope). I guess we couldn’t go a day without my dad doing something hilarious, and I didn’t have long to wait. As we climbed up to the bridge on foot, he managed to fall over the barrier, ending up on his bum with a grazed knee. All of which I laughed at, from the bottom of the road.

With lunchtime looming, we set out to stop Lake Wanaka next. We had hopes of kayaking on the lake, but we assumed it was too windy. Instead, we ate lunch on a bench overlooking the lake, before a quick wonder around the village centre.

Feeling drowsy after lunch, I had another nap in the car. When I woke up, we were near the top valley. We parked up and the view of Cardrona Valley was awesome. We were at Pisa Observatory and climbed a bit higher, to get some ace views of the rolling hills.

We arrived at Earnslaw Lodge about 4:00pm and dumped our stuff, before heading up to the gondola. It cost $25, but the views of Queenstown and especially the “Remarkables”, were second to none! We all hoped to see the glorious sunset, but it never happened. Following that, we went in to town to find some food. Fergburger was highly recommended by multiple people, but there was an hour wait, and we were too hungry by then. We ended up at an Indian and it was lovely.

Tuesday 10^th April 2012

Today was action packed to say the least! This morning I woke up, it was the big day that I had forgotten about! I was casually supposed to jump of a 43m high bridge in less than two hours! We arrived about an hour early, which probably wasn’t the best idea. We watched the live stream cams of people jumping and I was extremely nervous by this stage! When the time came to check-in I was even more nervous. I was weighed and then went to stand on the bridge. I had about 30 minutes to wait before being called to the edge to be strapped up. It was finally my turn and what had I let myself in for! I had the towels etc tied around my legs and shuffled towards the edge of the platform with my toes over the edge. In the words of one of the crew – “I think you have bitten off more than you can chew here”. That was pretty much what was going through my mind, as I stupidly looked down at the fast flowing river below! I had a quick pose for the camera, before the big jump. It was time, a quick 1,2,3, jump and I stood still. “Practice run” says the instructor jokingly. So 1,2,3 jump and this time I just jumped off in to a dive, which probably looked awful. Perhaps the worst bit was being pulled up and swung, not knowing where I was going. I was finally lowered down in to a dingy and then taken to the shore, awaited by dad. I got my DVD, photos, free t-shirt and certificate, and then we left for Arrowstown.

Arrowstown was a village that originated from gold mining boom approx. 150 years ago. It still brings a lot of tourists (Iike ourselves) to see the old, original buildings and pan for gold if you so wish. We bought some “golden nuggets” (sweets) and kiwi fruit fudge, before heading back to the accommodation for lunch. We had some quick lunch before heading out for our next adrenaline fix.

This afternoon we followed the River Shotover further upstream to the Shotover Jetboat HQ and checked-in about 3:00pm. Our ride wasn’t until 4, but we were early enough to go on a boat at 3:30. We waited around for a bit, before putting a waterproof long coat and lifejacket on and posing for pictures. We boarded the 12 seater, which was full, and sat at the back. The ride was fantastic, riding ridiculously close to the rock walls and over shingle, as well as doing 360 spins and getting soaked. It was probably the best bit of the whole trip, so far and I would thoroughly recommend it! You get about 25 minutes on the water (seemed much longer), before being offered pictures and on-board video footage of your ride.

The adrenaline action over for the day, we headed to the town centre to drop the car rental off. It was a nightmare trying to park, but we managed to get a spot outside in the end. Car gone, we walked down to Fergburger’s again for a burger. The wait was much shorter this evening and we even got a table outside. I had a “tropical swine”, which was no average burger. The ingredients were incredible, with a 1/2lb beef burger, cheese, bacon, pineapple, lettuce, relish and mayo. All of this, inside an incredible “fresh bread” type bun. All-in-all, probably the best burger I’ve ever had, even beating the previously recommended burgerfuel.

Feeling full, we took a stroll down to the Lakeside, where a beautiful sunset awaited! We managed to get a fair few decent pictures, with some awesome colours on the Lake and the Remarkables. We finished the evening at Pantagonia Chocolates, which was recommended in the Lonely Planet guide to NZ. Despite it being cold outside, we opted for a double scooped, coned ice cream each. Dad had mascarpone cheese with forest fruits and I had cream & caramel, plus banana split. It was incredible ice cream, in a lovely chocolate-bottomed, waffle cone. Completely full-up, we staggered home to bed.

Wednesday 11^th April 2012

This morning was an early start, with the coach picking us up at 7:15am across the road. It was freezing (compared to previous days) and the prospect of a 12 hour day, mostly spent on a coach, wasn’t appealing. Even less appealing when you consider I was awake since 2am as Dad woke me up with his snoring! The first leg of the journey took about 2 hours (which I slept for), before arriving at Te Anau. There was little, except a Lake at Te Anau. We had a 15 minute stop, in which we went down to the Lake to stretch our legs and take some pictures.

Our next, brief stop was at Mt. Christina and then the Chasm. The coach wasn’t able to stop for long at places and didn’t stop at some of the places we could have with the car. We finally arrived at Milford Sound at 12:50, in time for the cruise at 13:15. Milford Sound isn’t appropriately named, as a sound must be a river shaped valley in which the sea has filled. A fiord (which is what it technically is), is a glacier formed valley where the sea has filled it.

The cruise was the full hour and a half, which went quite quickly. Unfortunately the sun was in the wrong place to take good photos on the way out to the Sea. That said, the views were still mightily impressive and well worth it. There were two permanent waterfalls, but many over small run-offs. The Sterling falls showed a great example of a hanging valley. That coupled with terminal murrain, was like stepping in to a school geography lesson! It was fairly calm on the water, even as we reach the Tasman Sea. On the way back in, the sun was behind us, so we could see a lot more. The highlights were the “seal rock” and the Sterling falls (which we got soaked at).

The coach ride back was much quicker, although I slept the entire way back. We arrived back, just over 12 hours later, at 7:30pm. After dumping our stuff, we walked in to town for some tea. Feeling hungry, we stopped at the “pub on the Wharf”, where we both had steak. They were cooked perfectly, tasted great and came reasonably quickly.