We’re back from Queenstown - and what a marvelous time we had!

We woke up at 2:00AM Sunday to depart for Queenstown, about seven hours away.  Christian just finished working a dinner shift at Saggio Di Vino, and I had gone to bed barely three hours earlier after chatting too late with the flatmates.  It was not easy to get going…

We had already packed, so we loaded up the car and were on the road 45 minutes later.  We drove and drove, took a wrong turn, drove some more - down dark roads (some foggy and curvy) and saw very few cars the whole way.  There is only one main road to Queenstown from Christchurch, and it’s simply a two-lane highway.  The service stations are few and very far between, as are towns and houses; therefore, Christian filled up the car and a small gas can in case we needed it.  We brought snacks and water.  I couldn’t sleep (shocker), so I manned the iPod.

Near daybreak, we arrived at our first stop - Lake Pukaki, a good-sized lake smack in the middle of the country and just over half-way to our final destination.  To describe the scene:  first, it was so quiet and peaceful.  No cars, no planes, no people.  The gentle lapping of the mini waves on the rocky shore and the first birds singing were the only sounds we heard (besides ourselves, of course).  The water was a combination of things that are counter-intuitive to me: it was crystal clear, yet milky, azure blue (like Blue Frost sports drink).  The color (which we would see again) is due to the minerals in the snow-melt from the nearby glaciers). Ethereal, and so pretty!

As the sun was rising to the right of us (East), it was turning the sky different shades of purple and pink.  Looking North, toward the far end of the lake, we could see Mount Cook, one of the tallest mountains in New Zealand and completely snow-covered.  The dim light from the sunrise, not yet risen over the mountains, illuminated the snow, and made it look like Mount Cook was glowing - stunning!  Combined with the blue color of the lake and the bleached white stones, I think an artist would have trouble imagining such a beautiful scene.

As stunning as Lake Pukaki was, little did I know that more breathless scenery awaited. We hung around until the sun started to peek over the mountains before continuing on our journey.  This leg of the trip (from Pukaki to Wanaka) was remarkable for the number of animals who lost their lives as we passed through - three (two rabbits and one bird).  First off, New Zealand has a rabbit problem; they are everywhere and comprise of the majority of roadkill in the parts where we were.  Why am I mentioning this?  Perhaps I am trying to make myself feel better, even though I wasn’t driving and the damn things would literally run across the road as the car approached (like the old Atari game “Frogger”).  I have only hit one animal while driving, so to hit three in one trip seemed like some kind of record.

Anyway, I was able to sneak in a little nap in between killing the rabbits (and later a big bird).  When I woke up, we had arrived at Lake Wanaka, a small, stunning alpine lake town about an hour north of Queenstown.  This place was lush with green grass and trees and bright sunshine, a sharp contrast to the dimly-lit, nearly barren Lake Pukaki.  The town was buzzing with busy cafes, and people walking their dogs and simply enjoying the lovely morning.  As for us, it was time to eat!  We got coffees and breakfast and sat in the sunshine, taking in the surroundings.

After breakfast, we walked around for about an hour.  As at Lake Pukaki, the water at this lake was crystal clear, although it was more of the classic dark blue color.  We walked to the end of a dock and could see straight down to the bottom.  In addition, we could see several large trout and even a freshwater eel.  It reminded me of Lake Skaneateles in Upstate New York on steroids, with dramatic mountains and trees on Wanaka replacing the rolling hills and numerous summer homes and boats on Skaneateles.

Soon, it was time to get back in the car and finally go to Queenstown.  It was only 9:00AM, but it felt like we already had a full day of activities completed (for Christian, who still had not yet been to bed, I am sure it felt like several days of activities).  We took a shortcut, a little known road that runs the 100km or so from Wanaka straight to South to Queenstown.  This road started low in elevation and, and after many twists and turns and ups and downs, we ended up on top of a mountain with an unbelievable view of the wine-growing valley in Central Otago (the region where Queenstown is located and well-known for its superb Pinot Noirs).  We stopped at a lookout point where there were many other sightseers.  The visibility was completely unobstructed, and we could see for many miles in the distance, including to the lake on which Queenstown sits.  We took a few photos, got back in the car and began our decent down the mountain, a rather treacherous two-lane road with hairpin turns zigzagging the whole way down.

Finally, driving alongside one of the shorter arms of Lake Wakatipu, we arrived in Queenstown.  We saw where our hotel was located (right in the center of town on the lake!), got our room keys (actual keys and not plastic cards), and found a parking spot up arguably the steepest paved hill I’ve ever experienced.  We walked down the hill, picked a restaurant, and ordered a nice bottle of Pinot Gris to celebrate our arrival!

After the wine, Christian made his way up to the car to get some sleep, and Rus and I walked around the whole town (easy to do because it is not very big).  He was on a mission to buy some more tramping (hiking) clothes, so we price-shopped and tried on lots of items before he made a couple of decisions.  While we were shopping, we were taking in the unbelievable scenery. Lake Wakatipu is a huge (56km long) dark blue lake with crystal clear waters surrounded by Adirondack-sized mountains.  The sun was warm, but the wind coming off the cold lake required us to keep our jackets on.  The temperature with the wind chill was about 15C, or around 60F.  We saw a gondola that went up to the top of one of the mountains and vowed we would do that for sure.  Queenstown is home to one of the last coal-fired passenger ships in the Southern Hemisphere, the T.S.S. Earnslaw, which makes daily tours of the lake.  We saw it come and go several times and considered it on the short-list of activities during our visit.

At check-in time (4:00PM), we met Christian at the car on top of the crazy hill, and he drove it to a more managable parking spot.  We grabbed our stuff and went to the hotel, which is actually a backpackers’ hotel.  This means cheap prices and modest accommodations.  It also means that it has a kitchenette and phone and internet facilities, basically everything one would need for long-term travelling (since there are so many travellers, we see these types of accommodation a lot here in New Zealand).  We got a room with a double and a twin bed so we could all save some money.  Our room had a bathroom ensuite (although this was not the case for all of the rooms) and a view of the lake - not bad for NZ$100 per night!

We grabbed much-needed naps, got showered and dressed for dinner, and made our way to a restaurant a stone’s throw from the hotel called Captain’s.  Our roommate, Radu, recommended it as one of the best places to eat in Queenstown.  Rus ordered grouper, I ordered salmon, and Christian ordered venison.  Our meals were spectacular, the wine excellent, and the service and company, well, fabulous. We ordered creme brulees to top of the meal then went for a walk around town to top off the evening.

We were still tired from the trip and little sleep the night before, so we turned in early to get a jump on the next day, which will be detailed in “Day Two”, coming up next!