Downtown & Lake Wakatipu
If you manage to nab yourself a window seat on your flight into Queenstown, you will be treated to impressive views of snow capped mountains, crystal clear rivers and lush green hills. For me, this was just the start of a week long landscape extravaganza, starting with a walk downtown on my first evening to explore and get my bearings. Queenstown is framed by lush mountains carpeted in deep green pine trees, cosy homes nestled into hillside nooks and the vast & impressive Lake Wakatipu, which was carved by a glacier and is 84km in length and 400m deep. Down by the waterfront there's a picturesque beach with a park on one side, the pleasant hustle & bustle of a busy restaurant precinct on the other, and mountains in the distance. With moored up boats, wooden buildings and distant mountains, the waterfront looked strikingly like Cape Town's V&A waterfront, which made me like it even more.
The burnt oranges and sunshine yellows of autumn's trees, fallen conkers, the icy chill in the air and the welcoming warmth from roaring fires flickering in restaurant patios adds to Queenstown's charm. I have a hunch it would be super pretty in winter with a dusting of snow decorating the tiny streets, quaint buildings and surrounding mountains. It would be freezing though; it's only April and people are already clad in coats, hats and gloves. There are advantages to the cold, however: hot chocolates, wholesome pub meals, burying myself in a duvet, snuggling with my hot water bottle and generally feeling more at home. The hostel I'm staying at (Southern Laughter) has free hot soup going every evening which is magic; just what you want after coming in from the cold. Plus it has the squishiest mattresses - the comfiest night's sleep I've had in a while :)
Paragliding
To make sure I did something 'adrenaliney' while I'm here and live up to the spirit of Queenstown - adventure capital of the world, I booked myself in for a paragliding session within 2 hours of arriving. The next morning we were driven up to the mountain, all strapped in...and then the wind took a turn for the worse and we had to go back. It wasn't a wasted morning though: I met some nice people, drooled over some pretty spectacular views and rebooked for the following day. It turns out the next day was ten times better anyway; for starters the weather was absolutely gorgeous and sunny rather than grey and gloomy, and secondly we jumped straight off the mountain instead of waiting around for ages. The flight was good; we flew really close to the side of a mountain & alarmed a couple of mountain goats, and floated over a dense thicket of deep green pine trees - stunning views. As we neared the ground, we did a couple of twists and turns which sent my stomach leaping into my throat. One smooth landing later and it was all over! The flight felt much shorter than 12 minutes and to be perfectly honest it wasn't quite the adrenaline-fuelled activity I hoped it would be. Still, it was fun to try and it's given me a taste for new, out of the ordinary (and expensive!) experiences!
View from the mountain top
Up, up and away!
Just a casual spin
Triumphant!
NZ$195. Pricey, but the closest I was going to get to skydiving and bungy jumping (and cheaper).
Shotover Jet
To make up for missing out on paragliding on my first day, I went jet boating through a canyon instead - not a bad replacement! The ride was awesome with the driver deliberately just missing cliff faces and scattered rocks, and plenty of 360 degree spins. We were surrounded by jaw dropping moutainscapes that I just couldn't tear my eyes away from - steep grassy slopes, clusters of trees displaying their autumn colours and the bluest river I've ever seen in my life, which was impossibly turquoise especially when the sun shone. (It rained the day afterwards which turned the river a murky brown - I was lucky to go when I did.) The Shotover Jet is a major tourist attraction but in spite of this, the location, just a 10 minute drive from town, emanates pure, unspoilt wilderness. This is also a gold rich area: my paragliding instructor told me that a couple spent 5 years looking for gold all over the world and would only get married when they found enough to cash in and buy their wedding rings. They found what they needed in Queenstown and got hitched in the Remarkables mountain range just up the road. Sweet! You can rent pans and sieves to go off in search of gold - certainly something a bit different and potentially a way to recoup the vast amounts of money spent on adventure activities in the region...
NZ$129. Pricey but worth it.
Tiki Trail
For some unknown reason, I decided to walk up this mother trucker:
The trek takes you from the base of the Skyline Gondola to the summit of Bob's Peak. I can confirm the climb is as menacingly steep as it looks - but it was good to challenge myself; my fitness levels are not exactly up to scratch (understatement of the year) so it was nice to have an outdoorsy workout. I might exercise more often if this was the reward:
I really enjoyed the walk; it's so good being outside and in the fresh air plus it saved me the NZ$30 Gondola (cable car) journey.
Luging
In addition to the views, the advantage of decimating your calf muscles climbing the Tiki Trail is the luging - a real life version of Mario Kart. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! I only took 2 rides to save cash but it was awesome and I could have done it all afternoon. There's a blue track (easy) and a red track with steep hills and sharp bends that's slightly more difficult to navigate but all the more fun for it. It would be so cool living here and having this on your doorstep - forget the cinema, ditch Netflix, let's go luging down a freaking mountain! Absolutely loved this and it's a fast-paced 'adrenalin' activity that doesn't break the bank, especially if you forgo the Gondola and brave the steep inclines.
Milford Sound
The eighth wonder of the world - Rudyard Kipling
Milford Sound is around 85km away from Queenstown if you fly in a straight line, but because of all this mountain business the windy drive is 320km and takes 4.5 hours! This equated to one VERY long day, most of it spent on a coach with 46 other people. Not my favourite way to travel but sometimes needs must; I wasn't going to leave without seeing it. So was it worth the 12.5 hour round trip? The coach journey was broken up with a few stops including a couple of photo stops at some gorgeous sites and a couple of walks:
I saw my first glacier! Check out the blue colour of the ice beneath the snowy top layer
After heavy rain, flood waters rush downstream picking up pebbles and gravel. Stones that are deposited in a rocky slot are swirled round by the current, and over many centuries have ground out the pothole shapes above
The cruise through Milford Sound was an hour and a half, absolutely freezing and, to be 100% honest, a little underwhelming - maybe because the journey had been so long or maybe because I've been lucky enough to see so many cool things on my travels that I've become a bit of a scenery snob. Also, I was expecting to see penguins & dolphins and saw neither so was a little disappointed. What did impress was the sheer size of the cliffs, which was particularly evident when a teeny tiny boat sailed past - it reminded me of the Uyuni salt flats where I felt infinitesimal:
We also went right up close to the base of a waterfall which was flowing from the very top of the cliff. It was incredibly loud, windy and scarily powerful; very different to the calm, graceful flow it looks like from afar. Pretty cool experience to end the cruise. The driver put Avatar on during the ride home to continue the theme of otherworldly landscapes and provide some much needed entertainment - and recommended coming back in the rain when hundreds of gushing waterfalls seemingly materialise from nowhere.
NZ$119. Not too bad considering how much we packed into a very long day.
Walking & cycling trails
With mountains, lakes and hillsides, there are heaps of walking, hiking (or tramping as New Zealanders say) and cycling routes around and out of town; it's a great place to work on your fitness during an action-packed visit or over a year-long stay (I found out this week that Brits can actually stay in the country for 2 years on a working visa without having to do that pesky farm work. Always good to have options.) I really enjoyed the Tiki Trail but wanted something a bit less challenging after a very hard morning of waking up and going for brunch 5 days into my trip. I chose the Queenstown to Frankton return trail, voluntarily opting to walk 15km in the freezing cold. It's a nice walk; by the lake and flat as a pancake almost the whole way and gorgeous views, spoiled only by a mild bout of random traveller's sickness. Returned with stiff legs and craving a long soak in a hot bath, but a hot chocolate, hot shower and hot water bottle sorted me out just fine :)
Over my last couple of days, I did the Sunshine Bay walk and hired a bike to cycle round the lake. It was a gorgeous sunny day which made me over-ambitious and decide it was an excellent idea to hire a bike for the entire day. I managed about 2.5 hours before getting grumpy and turning round to go back - in hindsight I'm surprised I even managed that far! It was the scenery that spurred me on; I thought the walk to Frankton was beautiful but cross the bridge and you've got lovely secluded pebble beaches every 30 seconds, glassy water in stunning hues of blue and dense pine forests that smell like home :)
Verdict:
This is just a taste of what's on offer: I also wanted to go quad biking, try a Bear Grylls style survival walk and do the canyon swing which involves leaping off a cliff in a 60m freefall and being swung 200m across a canyon. But at NZ$215 for one swing, I couldn't really justify it, especially as I'm right at the beginning of my trip. If you had all the money in the world I reckon you could easily spend a month in Queenstown going on outdoorsy adventures - more in the winter when skiing and snowboarding becomes an option. Queenstown is AMAZING and I can't believe it didn't make my original wish list. Next stop: 24 hours in Christchurch and then onto Kaikoura for my wildlife fix. Can't wait!
