Queenstown

Caroline and I shared the five hour drive from Franz Josef Glacier to Queenstown and it was a beautiful drive. We stopped off at the Tasman Sea lookout, the Fantail Waterfalls, blue pools and Lake Wanaka.

Queenstown is the adventure centre of New Zealand so it took us a while to decide what adventures we wanted to do while we were in Queenstown. A hike was one of the main adventures that we all wanted to do however most of the main hikes are multi-day hikes and we didn't have the camping equipment or clothing for long hikes. Nevertheless we decided to hike Queenstown hill. It turned out to be steeper than we had predicted however, when we got to the top, there was a stunning view over Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and the Southern Alps.

The next adventure was to get the gondola up a different mountain overlooking Queenstown. At the top of this mountain there are mulitple activities to do. You could mountain bike (Rob did this the following day), paraglide, hike trails and bungee jumping however we decided to do the luge racing. We booked three races, it was fun chasing each other down the hill. We were lucky to finish all three races because after we finished our last race the ski-lift which brought you to the start of the luge track got cancelled as it was too windy. After lunch we played a round of mini golf which I lost but sure I had to let the others win sometime.

Caroline and I wanted to go whitewater rafting while we were in Queenstown because it is supposed to be one of the best rafting locations in the world. There are two different courses the main one down Shotover river has grade three and four rapids. Due to overnight rain the main course was closed as the water was too high and dangerous to raft down it. They offered us to do the other course which had grade two and three rapids. We decided that since we were ready to raft we might as well do the other course. They used the Kawarau river for the rafting and there was four rapids. The first one we got to swim down which was fun and then the biggest one was the last one which had two big waves. It was a little disappointing that we didn't get to raft down the larger course as there is bigger rapids but it was still fun and I got to spend a good bit of time with Caroline which was nice.

That afternoon I drove to Glenorchy with Caroline and Ruben which is a small village further down the river. It was a nice scenic drive along the lake. The next morning I dropped Caroline and Ruben to the airport as they fly to the North island for a few days before heading home. It was sad saying goodbye to Caroline as we have had such a good time together in the last three weeks but we both have more adventures to do before heading home.

Rob and I booked a day tour with Go Orange to explore Milford Sound which is a fiord five hours south of Queenstown. The bus picked us up at 7am and we drove through the scenic surroundings. The snowcapped mountains looked beautiful in the sunshine. We stopped at a mirror lake which had a wonderful reflection of the mountains in the lake below. When we arrived to Milford we got on a cruise ship and sailed out through the fiord to the Tasman Sea. We sailed close to the waterfalls that were draining into the fiord and got wet from the water spray. The most exciting part was when we saw a school of dolphins swim by the boat. It was a long day by the time we arrived back to Queenstown but it was a great cruise of the first fiord that either of us have explored.

The next day we got dropped to Arrowtown which is 30km from Queenstown. Arrowtown was developed as a gold town as it was the first place in New Zealand that gold was discover in its rivers. We went to the museum and learned about how gold was drained from the river and how the town built up. Then we hired bikes and cycled the 30km back to Queenstown. The ride was stunning as we rode through fields and valleys and saw plenty of trees with their autumn coloured leaves. I found the cycle quite tiring though as we rode up and down hill. I can't remember the last time I cycled 30km but the scenery was beautiful so it was worth all of the struggle.

We are now finished our south island tour of New Zealand and tomorrow we fly to Wellington for two weeks exploring the north island. I loved the scenery of the south island it was just beautiful seeing the snowcapped mountains and autumn coloured leaves. I would love to come back for skiing here in the winter another time.Read more