Adventure Capital, here we come! - Wanaka to Queenstown

Wanaka to Queenstown (click to enlarge)

29th April 2006AD

Woke up to another brilliant day. I think New Zealand is really growing on us!

We took our time getting downstairs to breakfast. With a breakfast window of 8:00am to 9:30am there was no rush. Downstairs and we were greeted by one of the girls who asked for our egg preference – so after a very nice bowl of fresh fruits with yoghurt, we were served scrambled eggs with bacon. Whilst Shte1 tucked into her eggs I listened into the breakfast table conversation – which was mostly directed by a tour director and two fellow tourists along with Graeme Oxley (Te Wanaka Director).

After the leisurely breakfast we packed and got ready to go. It was sad for the two of us to be leaving so soon after realising staying another day would have been better. But oh well, there was much more adventure ahead of us and we will earmark Wanaka for a future return.

Stopping by lake Wanaka to take some photos with the ducks that Shte1 had fallen in love with, we headed off into the winding road the Queenstown.

And again, more beautiful driving would greet us on our way! The orange and yellows of autumn were in full bloom and we could not help but praise God for being such a creative creator. The road rose gently below us and before we could sneeze we found ourselves heading up steep and winding roads. Many hairpins came our way, but our trusty Corolla stayed true to course.

Then round one bend I noticed what I thought was foam on the ground – snow!!! It was a mostly measly and pitiable spat (t’was not the season after all), but my first sighting of snow! So, of course, we quickly jumped out, took some photos and a short video clip. Haha…I’m so sad…

More hairpin turns on our way down had me thankful that we were heading towards Queenstown and not away – as our side of the road (left, for those who drive on the other side) hugged the mountain as opposed to the teeter off the cliff face. We then took a detour away from Queenstown and headed towards the Kawarau Gorge – home of the world’s first official bungee jumping site. As we got out of the car I could hear the sounds of people yelling and cheering, someone made the jump! But upon arrival at the place nobody was up next…and I wasn’t keen to pay the $100 for a jump – though I kinda now regret not doing it. Oh well, next time :)

A little further down the road we turned into Gibbston Valley Winery for a bit of a tasting and lunch. On the winelist for trial ($5 for four different wines…not too bad!) was:

• 2003 Pinot Noir: Very nice. Full flavoured and very fruity. The Pinot Noir, itself, was much stronger than I was led to believe (stronger than a Merlot, but almost as subtle in flavour), however it was still nice.

• 2005 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc: Quite acidic to the taste with a short burst of fruit in the after taste.

• 2005 Greenstone Chardonnay: Less stronger in flavour than the Sauvignon Blanc, but better rounded flavours left on the palate.

• 2004 Late Harvest Riesling: Saved the best till last. This was a real treat. Smelt very fruity and had a lovely taste and finish without being overpowering or too strong to taste. Excellent.

I was tempted to purchase a bottle of the Riesling after those wonderful flavours danced on my palate, but at $30 a bottle (and it also being a smaller than average bottle) I thought it a bit much and there was still so much of New Zealand to see. Thought I’d have better luck with the prices in a bottle shop around town or in Dunedin (our last stop).

Lunch followed at the adjoining restaurant, where Shte1 and I decided to venture on the wild side and order a mixed platter. It would prove to be not the wisest meal choice in New Zealand as, though the leek soup was very nice, some of the preserved figs and other fruits proved to be incredibly sour! Oh well.

Gibston Valley Winery - couched between mountainsides and very picturesque


The Central Otago area of New Zealand (of which Queenstown is a part of) is famous for its Pinot Noir - a soft yet complex (ie - lots of aromas) palate with a hint of spice. Generally very fruity as well :)



What a glorious red :)


Starting from the back corner clockwise - 2005 Greenstone Chardonnay, 2005 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, 2004 Late Harvest Riesling, 2003 Pinot Noir


Looks nice...


Riesling - generally used for dessert wines

The drive to Queenstown was pretty straight forward. There was another town only 3km down the road from it but you could mistake both towns as the same because there was no discernable gap between each town. Checking into Hurley’s we found ourselves in a relatively spacious studio apartment. Again a few more freebies thrown in for good measure (we added to our already brimming stock of freebies from the other hotels!!) and we decided to head into the township to have a poke around.

We booked for ourselves a dinner package special (more on that later) and needed time to kill. So we went tourist shopping, again, and hit the stores. Immediately I could see why our hosts at Te Wanaka said that Queenstown was more touristy – it certainly was! Along with the regulation tourist shops (if you’ve been in one, you’ve been in them all!) there were other upper market labels such as Louis Vuitton. That said, however, Queenstown was still nowhere near as touristy as the Gold Coast and still retains a small town feel.

Romney Sheep! Hehe! Sorry...only those who know Romnie will get this ;)

A short stroll through some shops and we found ourselves at the harbour side. I ducked off to the pier to take some snaps of ‘The Remarkables’ mountain range and found I had lost Shte1 temporarily. So I wandered through some of the street stalls and had a look at some interesting stuff on sale ranging from necklaces/pendants to artworks and pottery. Shte1 found me shortly thereafter and we purchased a couple of gifts for family back home at one of the stalls.

$20 for men. $30 for women. Why, oh why, would you get it cut here?

Japanese wedding somewhere nearby...

A chill started to descend pretty quickly so we made our move back up the streets and the huge (I possibly exaggerate…) flight of stairs next to the Sofitel Hotel on our way to the base of the Gondola ride up to the Skyline A bit of cue formed in the line up for the Gondola had Shte1 leaning on me heavily as she rested and me listening to the conversation of an American couple behind us. I don’t remember the exact words of the conversation, just that it was pretty inane and the accents (thick and heavy NY accents) made it even more irritable! I don’t know, I made a mental resolve not to think less of people because of their accents and remember the image of the God they were created in.

Soon enough we set foot onto the shaky Gondola which had me wondering if it was stable enough. It certainly looked a lot more flimsy than I had hoped, but before I could think more about it we were lifting up the side of the mountain where some of the most spectacular views of NZ were gradually revealed. The higher we went, the more beautiful it was. Queenstown lay below us in a shadow and the Remarkables were still tasting the afternoon sun. I turned to have a look up the mountain to see how much further we had to go and also noticed sheep on the incredibly steep hill! I guess you’ll find them anywhere there’s grass to feed on!

The scenery at the top was breath taking. Shte1 and I had a few moments before our pre-booked Kiwi Haka Maori experience so we sat down and enjoyed the view.

Wow...what a gorgeous view...

An incredibly gorgeous view ;)

The sound of a shell-horn and some nice vocal harmonies welcomed us to the 25 minute show. I took a number of photos as well as video clips (that I wasn’t suppose to!) and also had a small chuckle to myself as I noticed that the ‘traditional instruments’ as advertised in the brochure looked very similar to a six-string-guitar.

The show itself consisted of a number of songs and dances with the most interesting being, of course, the haka – or tribal warcry. Varying to some degree from the common one we tend to see at the start of the All Blacks rugby union matches, it was still intimidating nonetheless. The shrill vocals from the women added immensely to the intimidating atmosphere as well.

A Maori warrior greets us


Traditional Maori women...scary...

The end of the show came quickly and the moment we had been waiting for arrived – dinner! And what a treat we were in for! A massive seafood buffet along with all the regulation salads, roast lamb & venison and traditional NZ Hangi! The highlight of the meal was indeed the Hangi chicken – a deliciously juicy smoky flavoured chicken breast…yum! Our seat looked out the window as well so we had a nice view of the town and the Remarkables with the final moments of fading light.

After stuffing ourselves silly we headed back for an early night. Tomorrow would promise a big day with the Dart River Safari!

Yeah baby!!

30th April 2006 AD

Waking up early when it is cold is rarely fun. So it wasn’t hard to imagine that this morning would be a bit of a struggle to get out of bed.

However once we were underway we headed to ‘Gourmet Express All Day Diner’ for the ‘bug breakfast’ recommended to us by ‘Spick’ – the Hurley’s manager. I ordered the eggs Benedict – two poached eggs sitting on top of English muffins and ham with hollandaise sauce covering the lot and Shte1 ordered the ‘Miners Breakfast’ consisting of eggs, bacon, hash brown, toast and two pancakes – roughly twice the size of my breakfast for a girl half my size :P It seems that I am the more ‘dainty’ one in this relationship.

Shte1's man-ly breakfast and my dainty eggs benedict...

After breakfast we didn’t stick around long as we were being picked up from our Hotel. An Australian guide – Johnno – came for us and we made several stops along the way to pick up various people, including some relatively chatty and inquisitive Americans.

Our guide took us on a one hour bus trip up to Glenorchy where the Dart River Safari would take place. We stopped a couple of times to take photos, have a breather, and also get to see some sites where some of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy was shot. And being a massive LOTR fan I found the info very cool!

Upon arrival at Glenorchy we were informed that the sandflies (New Zealand’s smaller version of a mosquito!) were quite active so we decided to purchase some sand-fly ointment. Onto another bus and we left behind sealed roads for the dirt roads heading towards the Dart River. Crossing farming land, driving through shallow rivers, and into thick forest we travelled for a further 20-30 minutes.

*sigh*

Stopping just alongside the river (which constantly changes shape and direction depending on rainfall) our group (the larger group had been split into two smaller ones) was led on a 15 minute walk through some of the forest which was large, thick, damp and amazing. It really did feel like the scene from LOTR – The Fellowship of the Ring where the fellowship is fighting Uruk Hai in the forest. I half expected Orcs to jump out of the forest at us!

After a short walk we stepped gingerly onto the jet-boat with our driver ‘Ash’. The jet boat’s construction is quite unique and is able to operate in only 4 inches of water. The motor is designed to suck in water and shoot it out in order to propel the boat forwards. Very cool and very fast!

We got up to speeds of roughly 60 km/h and the wind chill factor ensured that by the end of the trip our faces were frozen. The hand rails were, however, heated and stayed warm – a rather nifty innovation. Towels were also provided to wipe ourselves down after the ‘360s’ Ash would perform with the boat.


In all the ride took about an hour and we travelled about 60 km in total up and down the Dart River. We stopped at a few locations where Ash pointed out locations where various parts of LOTR were also shot.

Can't remember the name of this mountain (but I could google it). This is the mountain top where they filmed the explosive opening battle between the fiery Balrog and Gandalf in Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers.

The bus ride back to town was quiet and Shte1 and I took our chance to get some sleep. We got back late so decided to get some dinner quickly in town. After walking around a little trying to decide what looked good we stopped by one of the local cafes – The Surreal - which had a very chill-out/cool feel to it and ordered flat bread with mango chutney as well as some NZ green lipped mussels in a white wine sauce. It was incredibly delicious and I chided myself for not bringing the camera to take a photo of it!

Back to Hurleys and we were ready for bed! Another long day, and some more driving for us tomorrow as well.

- - - - -


Next time: Te Anau, a broken jar of corn-relish, and Milford Sound