Destination #4: Queenstown

Queenstown was not our original plan for our fourth destination. Hanging out in our campervan in Dunedin the night before we took at a look at our maps, calculated how many days on the road we had left and figured out what we had left that we wanted to see. Originally we were thinking that we'd continue driving south along the coastline and get down to Bluff, which we'd heard was a good touristy spot (and there was this really cute holiday park in Invercargill that I wanted to stay in), but, after our calculations we determined that the best course of action would be to cut across the island and head out for the fiordlands and Milford Sound. We were looking at about a 7 hour drive, but it would save us time in the end and allow us to relax and enjoy the last half of our vacation.

So, we set out for Milford Sound.

I haven't showed you sheep yet... there were a LOT of sheep! =)

After about four hours of driving, we finally hit Te Anau, the "gateway to Milford Sound". This is the last township before we would head into the Fjordland and the road that would take us out to the sound. We turned onto the road, headed north for about a mile, and then saw a sign that we were not expecting and did NOT appreciate:

Te Anau - Milford Sound: CLOSED

WTF?! We turned around, headed back into Te Anau, found an information center, and asked what was going on. Apparently there had been some snow and slides and the road had been closed for a couple of days (as I've said... mother nature was not on our side during this trip!). There was no word at that point when the road would be open again, however the next report was due in an hour. We decided to wait. The information center had some internet stations, so we logged on, responded to e-mails, blogged a little bit, and waited for the report.

An hour later we were informed that the roads would open the following morning. This kind of ruined our plans as we had to be to your next destination in Wanaka the following day to check into our condo, which meant that if we waited until the following morning, we would have to drive up, look around, and then get back into the van and drive to Wanaka. We wanted to have a little more time to spend in the sound.

We pulled out our map, did a few more calculations and planning, and decided to make our way towards Queenstown. We decided to stay in Kingston for the night, and then hang out in Queenstown the next day, allowing us to only drive about an hour and half to check into our condo that evening. So, we set out again with plans of driving back to Milford Sound in a few days.

Our campsite in Kingston for the nigh... I think we were the only ones there... kinda creepy.

I think I may have posted this picture before... but I love it. =)

The next morning we headed out toward Queenstown. The views were pretty fantastic with the Remarkables mountain range and Lake Wakatipu to the west for pretty much the entire drive.



We finally made it in to Queenstown, found a place to park and then looked at each other... neither of us knew what to do for the next several hours. lol Apparently we hadn't thought this one out. =) We started out by exploring the township a little bit:

Queenstown

Athol Street.... I laughed =)

This was the public bathroom... high tech! =) I wondered what would happen if the power went out though...

The we headed over to another information center and started pulling brochures. Jacob wanted to do a jetboat ride in the lake... but it was way too cold for that. We had seen a gondola going up the mountain on our way in, so we decided to walk up that way to check it out.

The price was right, AND there was a luge track at the top... so, we decided to give it a shot! =)

Starting our trip up the mountain and into the clouds.

Farther into the clouds...

At the top... not the best view as of right now! lol

Now to go even higher for the luge.

Getting ready to go! I wasn't so sure about this... I'm not a big fan of going fast...

I did it! And I didn't die! =)

After we were done with the luge we grabbed some lunch and THEN got to enjoy the view as the clouds were starting to break away.


It was a fun afternoon. And was the first time we'd gotten to "do" something rather than just look at things... I thoroughly enjoyed myself. And the weather was FINALLY starting to turn a little as we headed out for our next destination.