Queenstown New Zealand
Sightseeing
Sunday, August 19, 2007
My brother getting ready for fun.
John and Di hosted a BBQ for our family and friends.
It was good to see everyone having fun at one place and at one time.
Later that afternoon I said good bye to everyone then
Lawrence and I packed our things into the rental car and headed to the
airport. Lawrence and I stayed at the Airport Hilton hotel that night to
ensure we would not be late for our early flight to New Zealand the next
day. We got there around dinner time, had a light dinner, and hit the sack.
Monday, August 20, 2007
The New Zealand Southern Alps.
After we checked in for our flight to New Zealand we
bought coffee from a company at the airport call Hudson Coffee. "Australian
Coffee" is their marketing slogan. Boy,
this was really the best coffee I have ever drunk, smooth and creamy without
any bitterness.
Sunset on the drive to Queenstown.
The flight to New Zealand from Melbourne was about three
hours or so. It was a very clear day cold but with lots of sunshine. This
was the same for both Melbourne and Christchurch our destination. In New
Zealand we picked up our rental car and hit the road around 4:00 pm local
time for Queenstown. New Zealand is a beautiful place there is simply no
other way to describe it. We
took the inland route from Christchurch to Queenstown and as it is a seven
hour drive half of the trip was in darkness which was a shame as the first
part, in the light, offered spectacular views.
Jet boating on the lake.
The route we followed took us to Lake Tekapo where
we stooped and ate a delicious sushi dinner. The next town on the drive was
Twizel. Yes Twizel, I am not kidding. After
dinner we switched drivers and Lawrence took over the night drive; I fell
straight to sleep as I tend to do when I am a passenger in a car.
When I woke up Lawrence was wired after drinking a drink
called "V" which is some kind of highly caffeinated hit designed to keep you
awake for just such occasions. Lawrence explained that he had not seen a
light, farm house, car, or any signs of civilization since I had fallen
asleep, which was two hours ago; this is a desolate part of New Zealand. We
made it to Queenstown around 10:30 pm, located our accommodation, and found
a shopping center where we stocked up on breakfast fixings for the week
ahead.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
It
Queenstown from above.
We spent the day touring around Queenstown.
has a very typical ski town feel about it. It is also the center of all
things adventure based in the area.
You can organize jumping off bridges, jumping out of
airplanes, jetting around the sound in a jet boat, sliding down the mountain
on a log. Queenstown is set next to a very large lake which is surrounded by
very tall mountains some covered with snow for most of the year. It is a
beautiful place. As we walked around town we discovered that heliskiing was
offered by several companies. This is the type of skiing were a helicopter
is used to take you to very remote snow covered mountains so you can ski the
back country. It was just too enticing so we booked ourselves in for a
heliskiing session for the coming Friday.