On to Queenstown

I’ve gotten a little behind on my updates, so again I am reporting a few days back. On Thursday, K and I left Fox Glacier for Queenstown. It was a long trip (about 8 hours), but eye-catching beauty the whole way (and as always some good fun on the way too). The drive from Fox Glacier to Queenstown required we pass over Southern Alps – absolutely stunning. In particular, K and I had to traverse the Haast Pass – one of only 3 routes through the New Zealand Southern Alps. The road is very twisty and I lost count of the number of one-lane bridges we crossed.

We started our morning in Fox Glacier with breakfast and what has become our favorite here in New Zealand – cappuccino.  The Italians (who invented and make a great cappuccino) could learn a lesson from Kiwis here.  In New Zealand – coffee shops/cafes are part of the life blood of the New Zealand people.  Flat whites (between a cappuccino and latte) and Short Blacks (pretty much an espresso) are native and popular drinks.  But cappuccinos are our favorite.  I promised no pictures of food, but K insisted I post the picture of our drinks that started our day in Fox Glacier.  The prettiest and tastiest of the “caps” we have had so far.

We have not lacked for good food in New Zealand – especially seafood.  However, K and I both feel that you can’t really put your finger on any one thing that defines or characterizes New Zealand food.  It is a mixture of all types of food (Italian, Asian, British, Australian, etc.).  And while we have not gone hungry (quite the opposite), I would not tell people to come here for the food explicitly.  I would say they do a few things exceptionally well:   breakfast (what they and the Australians call “breakie”), wines (much more drink-it-now wines versus the age-it-for-seven-years kinds of wine you find in Europe), cheese, and coffee drinks.  But these things are not unique or necessarily defining of Kiwi cuisine .  Come to NZ for the absolute stunning scenery – not necessarily the food.  You won’t starve, you will eat well, but you will usually live on food that is really defined elsewhere.  Your eyes – on the other hand - will have the feast of their lifetime.

The drive over to Queenstown on Thursday started on the Tasman Sea coast and then quickly wound through the Southern Alps in the Haast river gorge and then down to Queenstown (at the confluence of the Fjordland, Southern Alps and Otago Peninsula in the lower part of the Southern Island of NZ).

Even inland - most of the way along the highway, we ran next to water. Either river, stream or lake. The water in the mountain rivers/streams/lakes of the Southern Alps was so clear, you could see all the way to the bottom from the side of the road. Below is an image of the Haast River winding through the mountains.

It is in the mountain passing that K and I came up with a new travel rule – never pass up the chance to see an off-the-beaten-track waterfall. We passed up one, but then started to stop at each one that was mentioned by a road-side direction sign. We are glad we did (thus the new rule). In any other place in the world, these falls would have monumental crowds around them and bus trips set up to see them. Here, they are simple sign posts with a dozen people stopping in for a peak. Here is a picture of a few: Thunder Creek and Fantail falls.

At one (the Fantail Falls), K played dodge with a boulder (pictured below). As we were pulling into the car park of the falls, we heard a big thud and bang from under the car. Suddenly the nose of the car surged into the air a bit. Both of us moaned and wondered what had we hit. As we got out of the car, we discovered K had driven the car up over a huge boulder. The nose of the SUV we were driving and the other cars parked in the car park totally obscured this big boulder from us, so K ended up driving right over it. The car’s 4th wheel was off the ground. We did not know what type of damage was done to the vehicle and/or if we would be able to get it down. Thankfully, a German fellow helped me ease the car back up on the rock a little bit to allow K to slowly roll the car back off the rock (actual boulder shown in the photo). The whole car park was having a great time watching this American couple put their car onto a rock and then try to get it off. We laughed hard about it after the fact, but we were a bit worried when it happened. Leave it to the Americans to provide entertainment to the locals. Thankfully – all went well and there was no damage to the car (amazingly). So I am now referring to K as “Commander Rock Hopper.” She is qualified for open highway driving, but I am not sure about her off road skills.

We also stopped for a short hike (over some swing bridges no less) to see the Blue Pools. The Blue Pools are crystal clear pools that have been carved out of the rocks by centuries of erosion on the Makarora River (also part of the pass crossing area).Again, look how clear this water is!

In the Southern Alps region, we followed a set of long glacier lakes (Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawae) to Wanaka and Queenstown. These lakes are like the Finger Lakes in New York – only much much larger and even more stunning for their clear blue waters.

 K was in photo mode all day long.

The Queenstown area is the skiers haven – as well as the wacky activity region (like bungy jumping, paragliding, etc.) and another NZ wine region. This time of year is their fall, so no ski resorts are yet open. But you can see where the more arid (no rainforest here) yet high mountains (called the Remarkables) are suited for alpine sports.

We stopped in Arrowtown just before entering Queenstown. This is an old gold mining town. A gold rush occurred in NZ in the 1860’s - including Arrowtown area - and was first discovered in the Arrow River flowing through this town by an American no less.  Now it is a tourist town outside of Queenstown. It had a kind of old west feel and look to it.  Once a bustling town of over 7000, it almost became a ghost town (down to 200) and then revived recently as a tourist town.

We arrived in Queenstown just in time for dinner. Queenstown also sits on a big glacier lake (Lake Wakatipu). This is the longest lake in NZ, the deepest lake in NZ and the third in total size/volume (recall from an earlier post that Taupo is the largest lake). Here is a picture from our restaurant table looking up to the city of Queenstown (it sits on the hill) and a bit of Lake Wakatipu in the foreground. A nice way to end a long but beautiful day in NZ.