Queenstown, NZ

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Hey Everybody - Well, after a 13 hour flight, we arrived in Auckland for a 2 1/2 hr layover and then a 2 hr flight to Queenstown. The flight from LA was good (if one can say that about a flight of that length), and our "skycouches" allowed us to ge some sleep on the way over. "Couch" is a generous term (loveseat is more like it), but we did sleep, even if I am in need of a chiropractic adjustment. Air New Zealand was excellent with personal entertainment centers, free movies, a nice crew and, best of all, free wine.

We arrived in Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand, if not the world, around mid-day Saturday and tried to hit the ground running to stave off the effects of jet lag. We are 21 hours ahead of the west coast - so it's basically 3 hours behind but tomorrow. Anyway, there seems to be no end to the number of death defying activities here in Queenstown from which to choose. Bungy jumping, canyon swinging, jet boating, sky diving, zip lining, and driving on the wrong side of the road are just a few of the crazy activities available here. As if driving on the "wrong" side of the road was not a big enough challenge, someone put the steering wheel, gear shift, turn signal and wiper controls on the wrong side as well. Some German friends we met at breakfast the other day said it's easy to spot the tourists - they are the ones turning on the windshield wipers when making a turn.

One of the many nice things about this country is there are no dangerous animals whatsoever. Much to the delight of my wife and daughter, NZ has no snakes, no poisonous spiders, no bears, no mountain lions, etc., which makes enjoying its endless outdoor beauty all the better. I have developed a theory that the Kiwis attempt to compensate for this lack of danger by dreaming up all manner of man-made ways to kill/injure yourself. (See aforementioned bungy jumping, jet boating, etc.)

Queenstown is a beautiful town of 12,500 people situated on the hillsides surrounding Lake Wakatipu - NZ's longest lake at 80k (50 mi). I've posted some pics of some of the fun things we've done so far in Queesntown, and we hope you enjoy the photos. Scott put together a very creative video of a trip we took to Milford Sound the other day, but due to Wifi gremlins (and possibly my lack of IT skills) it is not yet up on this blog. Hopefully in a day or two. In the meantime, we hope you are enjoying some relaxation and downtime over the holidays. Kia Ora! (Be Well)

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Comments

[Roselynn Portolese]

A picture perfect family;-) All the photos are great and you can see that you're taking advantage of all there is to do in New Zealand! Maybe I'll get there one day. Hope to see you in some of the pictures too, Chris!

[ChrisMR]

Cheers
Thanks RP. Will try to sneak into some of the photos. :)

[Doug Mottram]

NZ Adventure
With all those high risk activities on tap, I'm thinking in addition to no bears, snakes, t-rexes n such, they must also not have any lawyers......what a country!

[ChrisMR]

Not many
Went canyoning today - very fun . . . . and a workout to boot. It's speelunking, rafting, hiking, zip lining, and cliff jumping all rolled into one. They told Barb when she signed up that it's pretty much impossible to sue anyone in relation to the various adventure activities. Love the fact that people take responsibility for their own actions. Wish we would follow that lead. Cheers!