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Hello boys and girls. The boy half of the Lister-Gillett combo is here again to update you with our latest adventures.
Where did I leave you last? Hmmm... ah ha, we were about to go to Queenstown...
It was a fairly short drive (just a few hours) from Wanaka to Queenstown, and we arrived around 5pm. Queenstown’s reputation as the tourist and extreme sport capital of New Zealand meant that we didn’t have the highest of expectations for the place. To be perfectly honest, we expected it to be a bit tacky and somewhat past its best. Fortunately we were much mistaken.
Queenstown still possesses a definite charm, and sitting as it does between clear lakes, steep dramatic rocky mountains and volatile skies, it is most certainly picturesque. The hostel itself was fantastic - more of a home-stay than a hostel. We had a great view of the lake and mountains, and the living room and kitchen area is effectively just like someone’s house. People who stay have actively sought something a little different, and as such, the company was always excellent.
We spent two nights in Queenstown, avoiding all opportunities to leap off high objects attached
to elastic, parachutes or gliders. The justifications for such avoidance were a mixture of cowardice, disinterest and expense. They charge nearly $200 to do a bungee jump that lasts all of 10 seconds.
So anyway, we got a few jobs out of the way whilst in Queenstown, whilst ensuring that we enjoyed our surroundings. We caught a cable car up to a peak 400m above the town to get some stunning views, and of course, had a cup of tea at the top. A few friends-made, two nights and games of scrabble later, we set off for the 8th wonder of the world: Milford Sound.
Well this was what Rudyard Kipling said of this famous fjord, and it certainly has a reputation to live up to. Tours flock to it daily, not put off by its location. It’s about a 12 hour round trip, despite not being very far from Queenstown, as the crow flies. The terrain dictates an enormous detour, which begins by heading south to the small township of Te Anau. It was here that, following our trip to Milford, we were to get off the bus at on our return journey, thus knocking a few
hours of our journey time.
The bus was a special one - it had enormous windows and a glass roof, and it was full of middle-aged holiday-makers of various nationalities. As ever is such situations, the temptation to make national generalisations is almost irresistible...
Anyway, the shenanigans of these characters made the long drive down very amusing for me and Laura - particularly the brazen breaking of the rules of the bus! For the last time, no ice-cream on the bus!! What I particularly enjoyed was how miserable everybody was. Never have you seen a greater collection of ashen-faced individuals, heading to a world famous landmark. Marvellous stuff!
With a few stop-offs to further enjoy the mystical scenery, we eventually arrived at 1pm, having left at 7am. We had a two hour cruise on the fjord (which is all you need as it isn’t huge), and then were back on the bus again. Milford Sound was indeed gorgeous, yet we must confess, that it was perhaps not as great as we had hoped. There is a definite issue in New Zealand with regards to being spoilt. One cannot be exposed to such stunning natural wonders on a
totally consistent basis, without starting to become a little numb to them. You still appreciate it, but on Milford, surrounded by hundreds of waterfalls cascading down 1000 metre high mountains, we both felt that we should have been more wowed than we were. Regardless of this negativity, however, we both freely admit that it was truly breathtaking and utterly unique. Perhaps it was the fact that our friends had dolphins following their boat and rare birds circling overhead that raised our expectations to an unrealistic level. Ah well, it was better than the Mersey anyway.
After Milford Sound, we made our way to the strange backwater of Te Anau. Think ‘middle of nowhere’ then triple it. It felt like a complete ghost town, full of empty motels and patron-less restaurants. Te Anau has a permanent population of 3,000, but the population in the height of summer is closer to 13,000, which says it all.
The choice of backpackers was minute, and led to us being in a bit of a dump; the place just didn’t feel clean, but there were no other options. We were due to spend two nights there, but instead we managed to change
our buses last minute and thus reduce this to one night. The big plus though was the presence of our Canadian friends, and because of bus times, we were able to go for a long walk around the lake that Te Anau sits beside. However, the night before this activity, we did go to The Moose (a very, very, very local bar) to watch some rugby with, you guessed it, locals. We met a nice couple who lived on a farm just outside of Te Anau (even more middle-of-nowhere!), and got bought beers by a gruff old chap who wanted to thank us because we found his meat under the table! We passed the beers on to our Canadian friends because we’re nice like that.
So we had some fun in Te Anau, but must confess to sheer delight at returning to the lovely hostel in Queenstown. It is here that I sit and write again, trying not to mess up my tenses as I write this. We were here last night, and are here again tonight, before we leave for Tekapo tomorrow morning. Apologies if I lied to you before - I’m merely trying not to confuse!
Returning to the hostel felt like coming home. The wood fire was burning, scrabble was being played, and people were huddled around the dinner table sharing stories and jokes. Today we went to a little settlement called Arrowtown. It has a certain mid-west feel to it, established as it was in the Kiwi gold-rush of the mid-1800s, and we saw it at the perfect time. The town takes on a very appropriate golden colour at this time of year, thanks to the turning leaves, and it made for a very peaceful afternoon. This peace was somewhat shattered by our company (a 4 year old girl called Isabella, who was the property of Kay and Chris, who kindly gave us a lift from the hostel to Arrowtown), but Laura again demonstrated her marvellous maternal nature. Needless to say, it never fails to terrify me...
Tonight we expect our Canadian friends to arrive, so I’m looking forward to cards and monopoly, or heaven forbid, a quick venture into town. We do, however, have to be up at 6am tomorrow to get the bus to Tekapo, so a late night would be unwise. I also might have to get up early to
follow internet text coverage of Australia shattering English dreams in the cricket, but we’ll just have to see.
Okey smokey, be off with you all! We’ve got food to eat, songs to sing, and Philip Roth to read. Enjoy yourselves peeps, keep commenting on our blogs - we read all your comments and always enjoy hearing from you - and take care.
Much love
Sam and Laura
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jason and alexa
non-member comment
Mad wicked awesome
.....translation from American to English: very nice! We are so happy you are back on the road and putting up posts. Your stories and photos help us to deal with our travel withdrawal, especially since Jason is back in an office. Happy travels!