Queenstown

Continuing with my theme of trying to see as much of NZ as I possibly can while I am here, I went to Queenstown last weekend for a couple of days. My excuse was to visit my friend Shanaz since she was flying into Queenstown from Sydney for a wedding. I arrived in Queenstown on Thursday arvo and had a wander around the town. For a small place (only 8,500 residents according to the Lying Planet), there are a huge number of bars and shops to cater for all the tourists. And, much nicer bars and shops than we have in Rotovegas. On Friday morning Shanaz arrived, and after a quick catch up, we dolled ourselves up, chucked on numerous coats and scarves (it was only about 10 degrees and showery! So much for summer!) and headed out for Amanda and Tom's wedding.


The ceremony was in a little wooden church perched on the hill overlooking Queenstown and then the reception was in a lovely restaurant right on the lake edge, with views of lake and snow capped mountains. It was a great night - the people were friendly, the food was delicious, the music was good enough for some dancing and all went off without a hitch. They even managed to get their wedding photos in before the start of a torrential downpour which continued on into the night.

Me, Shanaz, Jae-Won and Lambrini

On Saturday, we started out slowly. Around lunchtime, Shanaz and I were joined by some of the other wedding guests - Jae, Euge and Damien and we took a gondola (the chairlift kind not the boat kind) up a steep hill to a lookout with awesome views of Queenstown and the surrounding mountains.And then, because we weren't yet sick of the views of mountains, we took a scenic flight out to Milford Sound and back. We got some amazing views of glaciers and snow-covered peakes (hundreds of them). Milford Sound itself was gorgeous - I can see why the walk is rated as one of the prettiest in the world! Now, I know I've never been known for my strong stomach in the face of motion, and so yes, just in case you were wondering, I was sick in the little plane, but I think the views were worth it!! And eventually my stomach will forgive me....

Yes, it's a very small plane!

Milford Sound

If you are a Lord of the Rings movie fan, you may recognise some of the pics (above) as heaps of it was filmed in the area, and our pilot flew lots of the cast and crew around during filming.
On Saturday night, we went out to dinner and then to this gorgeous little bar I had been eyeing off all weekend - nice couches, awesome interior, good cocktails...

Damien, Jae-Son, Bernie and me

So, that was my weekend. On Sunday morning, I said farewell to Shanaz and I flew back to sunny, (comparatively) warm Rotorua. Highly recommend visiting Queenstown - the landscape is just so different from anything I've ever experienced before in the southern hemisphere. As Shanaz said, it's a little bit like being in Switzerland or something - alpine lakes and huge, snow-capped mountains. And there are so many more places to go and visit - I've heard good things about Glenorchy (nothing like the Hobart version I hope), Arrowtown and apparently there are lots of good vineyards to visit. So, I will have to go back at some stage.