We spent the last 2 weeks in Queenstown, the ‘adventure capital’ of New Zealand famous as the birthplace of bungee, and also popular for skydiving, paragliding, luge, skiing, hiking, water sports etc.
Due to some flight delays we arrived after dark, and woke up to discover our incredible view, complete with sunrise and a rainbow. We spent the workdays admiring it, taking runs along Lake Wakatipu, hikes up the surrounding hills, and exploring town.
Queenstown itself was an interesting combo of rugged and bougie, with backpacker hostels, spas, posh restaurants and casual takeaway picnics. One of the hikes took us up to the top of the gondola, a tempting option.
One of the biggest surprises was all the fall colors, with a climate so different than Auckland whose flora seemed almost tropical.
On the weekends, we rented cars and explored further afield. The top thing we wanted to see on the South Island was Fjordlands National Park on the west coast. There is a lot to see there, so left early on a Saturday and stayed overnight closer to the park. The first day was misty, creating an ethereal backdrop for our hikes but also hiding the view from our first hike up Key Peak. We also stopped for some short walks at Mirror Lakes and Lake Mistletoe.
The next day was a real highlight of our trip so far, getting out into Milford Sound (misnamed as its actually a fjord). We had completely different weather for our boat tour, spending the whole time on the bow despite the cold and spray from the waterfalls.
After the tour we took a couple more hikes in the Milford Sound area, through dense temperate rainforest that reminded me just a little of Washington.
The following weekend, we went North to a completely different climate, the ‘Southern Alps.’ Mt. Cook / Aoraki is New Zealand’s highest peak, and the glaciers off the neighboring Mount Sefton shear off into the lake. We were expecting it to be pretty cold and bundled accordingly, but it was actually sunny and warm, so we were sweating on this flat, easy hike.
It took 3 hours to drive there, but through some more beautiful fall leaves, an the mining town called Arrowtown, and Cromwell, a 'Wenatchee' with many vinyards, orchards and fruit stalls.
While in Queenstown we got to try a few more New Zealand specialties. Nathan’s old company gifted us a tasting menu dinner at one of those posh restaurants as a thank you. Everything there is locally sourced, but it was the same at more casual spots. Some of the things we tried:
Marlborough Oysters from the north tip of the South Island (very clean flavor due to growing in deep water instead of mudflats
The pride of the island, Bluff Oysters from the southern tip, but I found them more bitter
‘Crayfish’ which is pretty much lobster
Alpine salmon – both grilled and smoked in a chowder
Lamb and venison
British pub fare like fish n’ chips, burgers and hand pies
Strange bakery items like pineapple-cheese sandwiches, cheese rolls (a grilled cheese where the bread is rolled up instead of sandwiched), and lolly cake (somewhat like a fruitcake but with a taffy/marshmallow type material instead of candied fruit)
We absolutely loved our time here and feel we only scratched the surface of this island. We have a lot more time to spend on the North Island, where we will have a car for the full time and be able to explore at will. Next stop: Northlands!