Tuesday, September 04, 2012

{New Zealand Aug 2012} Queenstown

So, a detour to Mt Cook had us heading for Queenstown at least two hours late.

The ride is long.
It got a little boring but according to the hubby, the drive is pretty easy.
There was only a stretch of highway where I was on high alert because we were travelling through winding mountainous roads (with not much of a view).

Winding, moutainous roads are not my favourite.
I can't recall where exactly it is now, but I remember it being pretty near the Goldsfield Mining Centre.
That was one place we I really wanted to visit.
But the road leading to the Centre mid-mountain doesn't look quite friendly to me, so I chickened out.
It really isn't that bad but I am not a fan of travelling on mountainous roads so I'd rather not take the risk.

We took a short stopover at Cromwell to stretch our legs.
And took a photo of that huge touristy fruit sculpture.
It wasn't easy to miss.


There were also a lot of fruit stalls along the way.
It's winter and most of the orchards are closed.
Cromwell's orchards would be a nice place to visit in summer.

We arrived at Queenstown slightly before the sun set.
I can't really navigate well at night so we just hung around Queenstown shopping mall.

Well, Queenstown is a combo of adventures and family friendly activities.
You can jetski, parasail, kayak, ski, take the gondola and luge ride.
Or take a scenic flight to Milford Sound.
If you are a fan of Lord of the Rings, they do have a horse riding trek/tour as well.
With kids?
Take the TSS Earnslaw(a really old steamboat) to Walter's Peak Farm, or go to the Kiwi Birdlife Park!

So which category did we fall into?
None.

The weather conditions didn't seem favourable so we skipped the Milford Sound tour.

I figured we really like to take things slow on our trips.
And because we get tired easily from our weak backs, I travel like an old lady.
We did none of the above even though I had planned to go on the steamboat and take the gondola and luge ride.

We had 3 nights in Queenstown and ended up only doing this:

Day 1/Night 1: A short walk around Queenstown Shopping Mall.
I had difficulties walking properly cuz the lighting wasn't fantastic and my eyes decided not to cooperate.

Day 2: A daytrip to Arrowtown.

Day 3: The search for Farmer's Market and Artisan Market.

We took a short walk along Lake Wakatipu.
It's beautiful.



Then we spotted a seagull deep in thoughts.



That red steamboat is TSS Earnslaw. Doesn't it look pretty?


The Farmer's Market is closed in winter, but we found the Arts Market near Steamer Wharf.


It's quite small so we took less than half an hour to cover everything.

*

I've heard of Fergburger before we left for NZ and was dying to try it. The dinner queue was long for the past 2 nights. This time we tried lunch and we were early. Like 10 plus am.
There was still a long queue.


We got ourselves a Big Al.
While waiting for the burger, we popped by next door (Fergbaker) for coffee and a lamb shank pie.
The pie is delish!
I don't eat mutton/lamb but I was fighting with the hubby over this one.
It is just so good.

 So this is Big Al'.
Huge isn't it?


Look at the size of the burger compared to the bag I was carrying.
I dare say it was almost as big as my face!

We sat by the wharf while we devoured the burger. (Which was, quite a feat.)
If you look closely, the guys sitting across us were eating Big Al' too.
We were watching each other's technique in eating that huge and very thick burger, while protecting our own foods from the seagulls at the same time.
It was quite funny.

  

We saw Eichardt's Private Hotel review online, It stood out because each night's stay is a whopping $1000. Even in winter.
I didn't know we were sitting right beside it until very much later.

 

A short walk around the mall and I got really tired.



We were back in the hotel by 2 pm.
I didn't even want to go out for dinner.
We just ate the buns we bought the night we returned from Arrowtown.

This always happens. Everytime I'm on a holiday, my body will go on strike from all the travelling and I will be in my accom by afternoon. Sleeping. Guess this is why I need really nice accomodation for every single trip I go to.



More of the trip here:
{New Zealand Aug 2012} Setting foot on New Zealand
{New Zealand Aug 2012} Geraldine, Lake Tekapo
{New Zealand Aug 2012} Lake Tekapo in Snow
{New Zealand Aug 2012} Mount Cook. Just a quick one.
{New Zealand Aug 2012} Arrowtown
{New Zealand Aug 2012} Tarras
{New Zealand Aug 2012} Wanaka
{New Zealand Aug 2012} Fox Glacier
{New Zealand Aug 2012} The scary ride
{New Zealand Aug 2012} The lesson from a seal
{New Zealand Aug 2012} Kaikoura
{New Zealand Aug 2012} International Antarctic Centre 




No comments:

Post a Comment