Day 223-225: Lake Gunn to Queenstown, New Zealand


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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Queenstown
September 9th 2009
Published: September 9th 2009
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Lake Gunn to Queenstown


Sunday, September 6th


We didn't die of cold during the night so we woke to a brisk morning by the lake. It was overcast plus the sun was still hiding behind the mountain range. After breakfast we drove in the direction of Milford Sound, hoping to find the road had been opened. We weren't too disappointed to find it still closed because the weather didn't look too promising. We’ll definitely come back soon.

We found a nearby walking trail and walked in the direction of Lake Marian next to the Hollyford River, the most beautiful river we've ever seen! In places the water was ice blue. It’s so beautiful here. We can't wait to hike all over this area one day.

After the hike we drove back in the direction of Te Anau. We stopped at a spot where the road was closed by an avalanche not long ago. The avalanche looked small (and is, as far as avalanches are concerned), but when Ferdi got on it we saw just how big it really was. No wonder these things are deadly! It might look like puffs of snow, but in reality it's tons of ice and debris traveling at 200km/h.

On the drive back we saw lots of traffic going the opposite way and later found that the road to Milford would open at noon. We decided against going back because we had Queenstown firmly on our radar. Also, we were running low on petrol so we’d have to back to Te Anau anyway before attempting a return journey, because there’s no petrol in Milford. That’s a 235km round trip. Once in Te Anau we got chips and wedges for lunch, filled up the van, and drove on to Queenstown. We couldn't wait to get there! We'd been looking forward to seeing that place for years.

The road was pretty flat and straight (unlike most of NZ roads) until we reached the Queenstown Lakes area. Here the road wound next to Lake Wakatipu all the way to town. It was magnificent! We arrived in Queenstown around 2pm and as we drove through town it became obvious that tourism is the reason this place exists. The roads are lined with hotels, motels, luxury holiday apartments and the odd campground. The centre of town is filled with shops, restaurants and bars. People carrying snowboards and skis walked all over the place and there's more campervans here than we'd ever seen in any one place. We found a spot to camp near the town centre because we didn't want to have to pay all those parking fees (it makes Ferdi nuts to pay for parking on the street). Anyway, this campground was the biggest and busiest campground we'd ever seen. Almost a third of the 282 camper spots were filled and it's not even high season! What a contrast to our last camping spot!

After a celebratory beer we walked into town to see what it's like. We wandered through some shops, finally finding the mini-hair-jaws that Talita's been looking for since her previous ones perished in Asia. We wandered through a few more shops and Talita found the pair of snowboard pants she'd always wanted. Since she doesn't have a pair back in SA (like Ferdi) she bought them. She was super chuffed! We also got a couple of stuff-bags, a small thermometer (cause we'd like to know how cold it really is) and some more supplies.

Back at camp we went for a shower. The hot water is coin operated and takes $1 coins for 8mins of hot water. Only when Talita had completely undressed and was ready to shower did she find that someone had shoved a $2 coin in the box, so she had to pack all her stuff and move one stall over, holding her small towel closed with one hand and carrying her other stuff one by one in the other. What a pain!

Today's highlights:
1. Walking next to the Hollyford River.
2. Standing on a "small" avalanche.
3. Reaching Queenstown.

Impressions of NZ:
Today was the first time we saw dead brown grass in NZ. If not for the snow capped mountains it would've reminded us of home.


Monday, September 7th


We felt completely lost this morning. We came with a vague plan, but there's just so much to do here that we ended up all confused. Luckily (depends on your point of view) we don't have the cash for 99%!o(MISSING)f the activities, so that made the decision making process easier (so why were we confused again?).

Anyway, for our first order of business, on our first morning in the adventure capital of the world, was to do some laundry. It was overcast and we didn't feel like doing much, but it still felt all kinds of wrong to be here and do something as mundane as washing clothes.

With the laundry done we packed lunch and set off for a walk. If you can keep out the shops it's the only free activity here. We walked into Queenstown Park and followed the edge of the lake all the way around the gardens. We had our lunch sitting on a bench looking out over Lake Wakatipu. What a view!

After our walk we took a drive up to Coronet Peak ski field. It's just 13km from Queenstown but it takes a while cause of the winding mountain road. Our first impression was shock. The ski field is huge and the reception/rental area looks like an airport with wet floors. We must've looked like we'd never seen snow before, but it was the size of the operation that stunned us. We wandered up the beginner slope and just ogled those gorgeous snowy runs.

After some exploration and with a burning desire to get onto the slopes we got in our van instead and headed back down to Queenstown. We'll save up and return one day! On the way back into to town we stopped at a bridge and got pictures of people enjoying a jet-boat ride in the canyon. It looked like a blast but is way outside our current budget. Back in town we had a beer, went for a walk in town, and enjoyed the burning sunset against the snowy peaks.

Today's highlights:
1. Walking around the park.
2. Seeing Coronet Peak for the first time.

Impressions of NZ:
Queenstown is gorgeous and we could easily live here. It can be a bit depressing when you don't have the cash to do all those wonderful things like snowboarding, jet-boating, helicopter rides, paragliding, skydiving etc.


Tuesday, September 8th


We drove up to the Remarkables ski field this morning. The access road is about 10km from the centre of town and from there a gravel road took us the next 13km to the base of the ski field. The views were unbelievable, but the road was rutted and rubbish (although not nearly as rough as the road to Tiffindel) and our van isn't really an off-road machine. It bounced around like a raver on Ecstasy.

From the car park we took a ski-travelator to the buildings at the top. It wasn't nearly as huge or as busy as Coronet Peak and we could see very little of the actual ski slopes, but the area was gorgeous. We could see three meter high snow in a valley next to the road and everywhere you look there are snowy peaks. These mountains stir our hearts and we would love to live in this area one day.

After walking around a bit we headed back down. Just outside the car park was two helicopters and Ferdi walked over to have look. Since coming here he'd gotten it in his head to become a chopper pilot, cause it looks like fun, there's lots of work, and he's always wanted to fly. One of the pilots beckoned him over and they had a chat. When the pilot heard what Ferdi used to do for a living he said that they've been filming a commercial for cigarettes over the last few days. Very interesting.

We continued down, stopping every five minutes to take pictures of this gorgeous place. Our van was happy to reach a proper road again and we headed to the golf course on the tip of the Kelvin Heights Peninsula. This peninsula juts out into Lake Wakatipu parallel to town. There are lovely houses with awesome views along the way, a few of which were for sale. Aaaanyway... There's a walkway all the way around the golf course and we enjoyed our lunch within viewing distance of yesterday's lunch spot across the water at the edge of the park.

After our walk we picked up more supplies in Frankton, then drove west through Queenstown to a camping spot on the lake. After a nap we shared our last beers with a couple of young German guys camping close to us. They've been traveling and working their way through NZ for a year and seem a little rough around the edges. Later we made dinner, read our books, watched a documentary, and then crawled into bed.

Today's highlights:
1. Visiting The Remarkables ski field.
2. Great views over the valley.

Impressions of NZ:
We found NZ’s flaw... Sandflies! If they are this annoying in winter we don't even want to know what they're like in summer!




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