Queenstown – Step into Fantasy -
The country of New Zealand boasts of perhaps the most majestic sceneries one could ever have seen. Divided into two parts, you could easily spend a month in South Island alone. The land of adventure, I can promise that you won’t be returning from here without encountering a sudden surge of adrenalin at least once. Queenstown in the South Island is definitely the most popular spot among tourists and deservingly so. There’s a dreamy quality to almost everything here!
Straight From The 'Lords Of The Rings'
I would strongly recommend that you travel by air to get here because the Queenstown Airport is known to have one of the most stunning approaches in the world. And when you get off the aircraft, smell the icy fresh air and look around you, you will feel like you were just transported right into the helicopter scene from ‘Jurassic Park’. Triangular mountains line the horizon while endless plains stretch into infinity on the other side. From India, fly in to Auckland or Christchurch and take a local airline in to Queenstown. Our flight from Auckland took us over ‘The Remarkables’ showing off a lovely view of rugged peaks and snow covered crevices.
Flying Over The 'Remarkables'
There are bus coaches and trains to get from Christchurch to Queenstown. However the bus coach services usually include a complete tour of anywhere between 4 and 15 days and cover either part or whole of the South Island. There is the famous ‘Tranz Alpine’ train from Christchurch to Greymouth after which one can drive to Queenstown.
While I traveled to Queenstown in March, the peak of the New Zealander’s summer, the climate was quite pleasant. Day temperatures were in the 20s but the wind-chill factor needed you to wear a light cardigan or scarf. Night temperatures do drop to 10 degrees Celsius so a jacket would be a good idea if you’re out for a night in the town. The Southern Hemisphere summers of Dec, Jan, Feb are the best time for tourists from world over to flock to NZ. The Days are extremely long at this time allowing you to make maximum use of your time here, I was most fascinated by the fact that we’d be having our dinner around 8pm and the sun would have just begun to set outside. Other than the Summer, the Spring months of Sept, Oct, Nov would be a good time to visit with temperatures varying between 5 and 16 degrees.
Dinner Time and It's still Daylight!
Located around the banks of Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown is a small yet all encompassing town, making it a favourite among tourists from around the world. There are various stay options in Queenstown right from backpacker hostels to Super luxury resorts:-
Luxury – For the Sea princesses
There are tons of luxury stay options in Queenstown which you can have a look at here: http://www.queenstownnz.co.nz/information/luxury-retreats/
Standard Hotels
We stayed at the St Moritz, a standard priced hotel but with beautiful rooms overlooking the lake all the way up to the Remarkable mountains. Other similiarly priced hotels like the Sofitel, Novotel and Mercure are also located within 2 km of the St Moritz.
Budget Hotels
Even Budget hotels in Queenstown would be fairly pricy in Indian rupees with prices varying between Rs 3500 and 4500 per room per night. These include hotels like Rydges Lakeland, Sherwood Manor hotel, Heartland Hotel, Bella Vista as well as Service apartments like Alta Apartments and Garden Court Suites and Apartments
The Town Centre
The Green Town Centre Of Queenstown
The town centre of Queenstown, laid out in a criss cross format, is small enough to walk around. There are various blocks of designer stores, souvenir shops, restaurants and bars catering to a large variety of audiences. This is one town centre that won’t feel like one given the amount of foliage that surrounds it.
Lake Wakatipu
Sandy Shores Of Lake Wakapitu
A Thrilling Ride On The Shotover Jet
The lake that the town sits around, Lake Wakatipu has such clear waters, you can see fish swimming in it when standing ashore. Adventure: Go Jet boating on the lake, an experience so thrilling, you’ll literally be thrown off your seat. If not an adventure enthusiast, just walk down into the basement of the shore deck and watch the fish through the underwater room or better still just lay on the sandy shores of the lake and read or listen to music.
Skyline Gondola
The Skyline Gondola
Culture Show - The Kiwi Hakka
Strapped In and Ready To Paraglide Away
A Plethora Of Adventure Activities can be done here
Taking you up to the highest accessible point in Queenstown, the Skyline gondola or cable car takes you on one of the steepest inclines up to Bob’s Peak. Up here, there are restaurants, bars, scenic views of the rest of Queenstown as well as various adventure activities. The cultural show famously called the ‘Kiwi Hakka’ is also held in an auditorium up here. Adevnture: For the strong hearted, tandem Paraglide from a height of 2000 ft or Bungy Jump off one of the cliffs. For those wanting to have a little fun, take a Luge ride which is fuelled by gravity and can offer high momentum to speed lovers.
Milford Sound (Fiordland National Park)
Cruising Towards Milford Sound
Called the 8th wonder of the world by Rudyard Kipling, Milford Sound is wider than other Fiords and has huge steep rock faces on either side lending an enchanting and almost threatening quality to this area. Visited from Queenstown usually as a day trip on a bus tour, Milford Sound is one of South Island’s most popular spots. Stop on the way to the see the small town Te Anau – known for the firefly caves – infested with such a large population of fireflies that the caves appear lit up. See the Mirror Lake on the way – a beautiful lake so still that it actually looks as though a mirror has been placed flat on the earth’s surface. On reaching Milford Sound, a huge boat takes you through a dozen fiords, past waterfalls, past seals baking in the sun on a rock with their pups, past dreamy landscapes out of the TV Show ‘Lost’ or the Hollywood movies ‘LOTR’ and ‘X Men’
Glenorchy
Clear Blue Water Enroute To Glenorchy
Driving Around Is The Best Way To See New Zealand
A Spectacular View Of The Misty Mountains
The lovely small town of Glenorchy is about an hour’s drive from Queenstown and makes for a must-do day trip for the more relaxed traveler. With numerous activities by the lake – boating, horse riding, lounging on the shore deck – the Glenorchy lakeside is perfect for a lovely sunny afternoon. The drive to Glenorchy is one of the most picturesque ones and since there isn’t heavy traffic movement, this was the only road I was allowed to drive on during the whole trip.
The Deck By The Lake In Glenorchy
Mangroves Lined Up
Kawarau Gorge
The Torrid Kawarau Flows through the Gorge
A walk through the Kawarau gorge
Welcome to an adrenalin junkie’s favourite spot
The world’s first bungy site
The Kawarau river that flows by Queenstown offers jet boating or white water rafting on the rapids down below and the cliffs high up above make for amazing Bungy spots. Infact, the Kawarau Bungy was the world’s first Bungy established in the late 70s.
It Really Was Truly Orgasmic
Dairy in New Zealand is supposed to be of the most supreme quality and hence New Zealand is known for products like milk – natural and flavoured, cheese, yogurt and icecream. Queenstown is a very cosmopolitan town with all kinds of cuisines available from hot dogs and shwarma rolls in the streets to fancy Indian, Oriental and Mexican restaurants.
Known for semi-precious stones and rare shells, this is the place to buy jewellery in Jade, Rose quartz, moonstone and the ever so famous Paua shell. Visit the small quaint Arrowtown nearby to Queenstown to buy locally made delectable chocolates and cheeses. The ancient goldmines are not located too far from Arrowtown so you can also buy little pieces of raw unpolished gold to wear as a pendant on a chain. Also don’t forget to walk into a sports shop and ask for ‘Icebreakers’. A huge New Zealand based brand, these are the best quality thermals you will find anywhere in the world.
A trip to New Zealand is likely to cost you around 1.5 Lakh Indian Rupees per head covering both North and South Island, driving across the entire country and staying in standard level accomodations.
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