The second interesting difference, for we NorAms used to DHS paranoia, was the absence of any photo-id requirements... just show up at your departure gate (shown in BIG numbers on your boarding pass, and, when the flight boards (on-time, of course), you walk on and sit... you're ready to go.
The flight to ZQN is about 85 minutes in duration and, if not obscured by cloud, the sights out the windows of the 737-400 are like watching the opening shots from LOTR... stupendous. We missed most of North Island's offerings - including Wellington - due to overcast but the clouds broke up when we reached the Cook Straight just before crossing over Marlborough Sound. The mountains of South Island - aka the Southern Alps - are formed by active plate tectonics and remind CDNs of the Rockies... but compressed stacks and somehow more "emotional"... for those who like mountains, you could really like these a lot!
The rest of the trip followed inland along the Southern Alps to ZQN with the final descent to the airport in hands-on mode as the pilot maneuvered through mountain passes and over vineyards, rivers and lakes onto the runway. You couldn't have asked for a better ride than that one but I wonder what happens in winter (the passes are subject to snow squalls and white-outs)... still - an adventure, none the less.
As we were preparing to deplane, the flight steward announced, with a smile in his voice, "Please watch your steps, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and hold onto the railing while descending the steps; the mountains will still be there when you are on the tarmac." First impressions of Queenstown are hard to describe so I'll just say W-O-W! There are mountain peaks in every direction... the air is crisp and dry... sun hot (lots of UV - NZ and most of AU suffer from weaker ozone layers so the sun's UV WILL burn unprotected skin) and a breeze blowing; perfect Wx! Of course, its not always so... ZQN gets lots of rain, and even some snow, too, but not today, thanks.
After clearing the paperwork for the car, we drove (somewhat gingerly, as most NorAms do when confronted with being on the left side of the road) to the town about 8km distant. We navigated to our motor hotel in town without incident and actually parked the car without damaging it or anyone else's... felt good to NOT ding a local car! Then groceries... necessary evils like food and some wine... and back to the apartment for supper... I crashed a few minutes later and didn't awake for about 9 hours - a much needed rest.
Thursday - time to discover Queenstown.. a town of hills... everything is headed 'up' from where ever you are; its fair to say that there are few folks that live here who are badly out of shape... you can certainly tell the tourists (like US) from the touring hikers, backpackers, bungi-jumpers, luge-riders, para-sailers and all variety of activity-seeking youth - no matter what their age - we're the ones sitting down on benches, fences or anywhere possible to 'catch breath' or relieve aching calves. This is a town where, if you decide to stay, you will need to be in shape! NO OPTION!
But, you will be hard pressed to find a town with more natural beauty... Banff comes close... and I'm sure there are others in the world - we just haven't seen or heard of them. Oh and did I mention the in-shape people? Actually, the residents and merchants are exceedingly polite and friendly (heard that before?) like most Kiwis we have had the pleasure of meeting.
After booking our next-day excursion to Milford Sound (not really a sound - actually a fjord) and strolling the retail mall in the centre of Queenstown, we took the short - but spectacular - gondola ride to the (almost) top of the mountain overlooking the town - it is the best vantage point in the area and from here one can see two of the three arms of Lake Wakatipu as well as The Remarkables (the mountain chain forming one side of the lake). The gondola platform (Skyline) also houses a resto, a bungee-jump, a luge run, parasailing jump point and a helo-pad for sight-seeing hops to the glaciers or around the 100km long lake, and the ubiquitous tourist stuff shop. Very active place... and lots of picture-taker (like us) but a better perspective you won't find.
Once back on the town level, we toured the northern arm of the lake which took us to a really small village of Glenorachy... where all the streets are named after islands of the Western Inner Hebrides... I thought it would be quite alright to sport a street address of Islay Ave., Mull Road or Oban Street... the Scottish diaspora lives!
Also, at this far end of Lake Wakatipu, Peter Jackson filmed a number of scenes for the LOTR trilogy... 'Rohan' was just past the village and the battle of Helm's Deep was filmed on the west side of the northern arm, too. You can certainly see the real country in the mythical film land...
Back to Queenstown and preparing for tomorrow's excursion to Milford Sound...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Queenstown, NZ
1 comment:
What a wonderfull time I'm having following your trip . I look forward to the next installment . Gary
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