Day 1: Thursday 28th November
On 28th November we flew overnight from San Francisco to Auckland then straight on an internal flight to Queenstown. Our early views of New Zealand were the spectacular terrain as we came in to land at Queenstown. Due to wind they had to make 2 attempts at landing which meant circling for another half hour, but what amazing scenery! Apparently there are often problems with landing at Queenstown due to weather, as the crew said only the week before, they had to abort landing and go to Christchurch instead, so we were lucky.
We got on our pre booked shared Super Shuttle £13 ($26 NZ ) for two which dropped us at our motel. We had chosen to stay at Bella Vista Motel which when I initially booked, I didn’t realise they were a chain. So you can stay in identical accommodation in all the tourist spots in New Zealand. Queenstown is quite expensive to stay in and this ended up being one of our most expensive places we stayed at and may be our least favourite. There was nothing really wrong with it but it was a typical motel block as I imagined motels, and others we stayed in were quite different. It was comfortable enough but I had only booked a compact suite and it really was compact! Due to its position I’d probably score it 7.5/10 We stayed here for 3 nights without a car. The first afternoon we wandered into town which was about 10 minutes from the motel. On first impressions I was not very keen on Queenstown. We walked through the town and down along the lake and through the park.
The town was very busy, with lots of bars full of young people, and seemed very much the backpacker town. We eventually found somewhere to get a NZ SIM for our phone in a little supermarket, Four Square. We had to go online to set it up and it was originally put on the wrong expensive contract. It was a Spark SIM and we found they had rather poor customer service if you had a problem.
After going back to our motel and having an hour’s nap to catch up on our missing sleep during the journey, we popped out to the large supermarket which was only about 4 minutes walk away in the opposite direction to the town centre. Tip 1: It would be useful to pop a shopping bag in your luggage. The shops don’t seem to have any cheap plastic type bags at all to buy, they seem ahead of the UK in saving the planet, and so you have to buy a material or canvas shopper. We got supplies for breakfast and a few extras so we could make up a picnic for the next two days. I was surprised that quite a large supermarket didn’t sell any microwaveable meals like they do at home, so in a motel with kettle, toaster and microwave there is not a lot you can prepare unless you have planned very well in advance. I hadn’t quite appreciated this as I usually have B.&B. and eat out the rest of the day. However as we were to be going out for a trip of approximately 13 hours in a couple of days time I was hoping to pick something up that we could eat when we came back exhausted in the evening.
Day 2: Friday 29th November, in Queenstown,
It was lovely sunny weather (about 20C), as we left at 10.15 with short sleeves and sunhat to walk the 5 minutes to the Skyline Gondola. There was a very short queue, only 15 mins wait and £22.00, 44 NZD each. We took a thin jacket packed in a rucksack, which we never needed. We thought it might be cooler at the top but it wasn’t, it was really warm.
Wow! What amazing views were to be seen when we reached the top. We took many photos as we walked along.
We walked towards Ben Lomond Saddle for about an hour but turned back as I was getting worn out and it was a bit of a climb in parts. We then did the loop trail instead, stopping off at the café which was very good with an excellent selection of food. There were plenty of outside tables so we chose one with a great view. After a half hour break, we decided to walk all the way down on the Tiki trail. It started ok with a good clear path but after about 2/3 of the way it became steeper downhill and quite a scramble. It was classed as ‘moderate’ but I certainly found it a bit of a struggle in parts towards the end. We went straight back to the motel arriving back about 6.30 pm, so a long day of walking and my legs felt it for the next couple of days, plus I had already acquired a blister! At about 8.ish we went out to eat at Lone Star where we had quite a reasonable meal and I especially enjoyed the Dixie Chicken.
I did however make a slight error over my starter. I wasn’t too bothered about having a starter so I just thought I’d order some garlic bread. What I didn’t realise was that you received a whole loaf! Yes it was enough for about 3 or 4 people.
I did my best to eat it as it was really delicious with really buttery garlic and herbs. The restaurant had quite a mix of customers but included local family groups as well as tourists.
Day 3: Saturday November 30th Trip to Milford Sound from Queenstown
We had booked our trip with Mitre Peak for the coach/cruise/coach tour. It wasn’t full, only 6 of us for the day on the minibus. We had chosen the small group with minibus and smaller boat as we thought it would be a more intimate tour and there wouldn’t be the wait each time the coach stopped for people to get on and off. We were not disappointed; it was a fantastic day. When we saw the size of some of the boats at the dock all of us on the minibus said we were glad we were not boarding them.
It was a 12 ½ hour day being picked up at 6.35 am but the time passed really quickly stopping at so many beautiful places on the way.
Our driver was very knowledgeable about the whole area and gave us a running commentary the whole way. She not only told us about the history and physical features of the area but we also heard stories of her family too. As we went along we noticed several areas of farmed deer and hadn’t realised that as well as their famous New Zealand Lamb that they also produce a lot of venison. We stopped everywhere before the bigger coaches arrived and even stopped at a bird sanctuary where there were endangered Takahe, and yes, there were several loo stops and a café stop for half an hour at Te Anau. When we boarded the boat there were only about another 25 people joining us so there was loads of room, it could have taken double that.
The weather was great and was quite sunny but the water does get surprisingly choppy in parts as the wind blows from the Tasman Sea. It made it quite tricky at times navigating your way back to sit down when carrying a cup of complementary hot tea! Although it was bright we all needed our waterproof jackets as protection from the wind. The scenery is absolutely stunning and we were lucky enough to see the fjordland crested penguin and fur seals.
We went right out into the Tasman Sea before turning back to go under a massive waterfall, great fun. Leaving the dock and boarding the awaiting minibus at 3.00pm, we arrived back at our accommodation by 7.00 pm, fairly tired but all agreed it was a fantastic day.