Queenstown (June 16)

Ironically the one town that we didn’t plan to stay in we ended up staying for four nights! We had originally planned to just pass through Queenstown on our way to Te Anau which is the gateway to Milford Sound but when we arrived it was late afternoon and we decided to stay the night. The weather for Te Anau was not good and we found out we could take a coach from Queenstown to Milford Sound for close to the same price as from Te Anau. We were also tired of packing and unpacking and decided staying in one place for a few days would be nice. We found a great place right in town and there were special rates since the ski season has not opened yet.

The first day we took the trip to Milford Sound which I posted earlier. The second day we took it easy and toured the town in the morning. I took Bree to Cookie Time were she sampled some of the New Zealand made cookies and we stuffed as many cookies into a container as we could for a set price. I think we will be eating cookies for the next week or so! We also restocked on paper and coloured pens at Smiggles (Bree’s favourite stationary store). Bree spends most of her time in the car colouring pictures and making toys out of paper so are stocks were running low and we still have a lot more driving to do.

In the afternoon we went on the Shotover Jet Boat ride. Russ had done a jet boat when he was in Queenstown a few years ago and said it was something we should do. The trip he did was on the lake so this time we decided to go down the Shotover River. It was incredible! I have to admit I was a little nervous as the boat travels so fast and they take you so close to the canyon walls but they are well trained and it is all part of the thrill. They also do some 360 turns and Bree would scream her head off and then laugh like crazy afterwards. The ride was at least 30 minutes long and the boat is quite small, holding approximately 15 people. As soon as the ride was over Bree wanted to go again!

The third day Russ and I took turns going for a run in the morning and then we all went up the Skyline Gondola which overlooks Queenstown. They have a luge ride that you can take at the top and we had done this at Rotorua when Bree was a year old. This time Bree was tall enough to ride on her own and after a trip down with me she decided to drive her own cart. She did a wonderful job but her arms were getting tired by the end and she hit the median just at the end of the ride. She was fine but it did scare her a little and the next ride she decided to come with one of us.

Queenstown is like a tiny Whistler, pretty much a resort town with tons of outdoor gear shops and tourist activities. There are also lots of great restaurants and pubs and we did grab take away a few nights. Queenstown sits on Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand’s longest lake at 84km. From here it is only a short drive to Coronet Peak ski area and to The Remarkables ski field. For us staying in Queenstown was great as we parked the car the day we arrived and did not use it again until the day we left. It was really nice to have a few quiet days and not have to pack bags or drive. Now we are packing up the car again and planning a longer drive over to Dunedin. From there we will start working our way back up the coast.