queenstown report

january 2004

i arrived in queenstown, new zealand in time for new year's eve to stay with toby and jo.
toby was an artist at codemasters for many years, married jo, a kiwi, and they moved to new zealand in april 2003.
at that time, i was invited to stay at their house should i come over.

queenstown is situated just over halfway down the south island of new zealand, roughly equidistant from the sea.
it is a mecca for "dangerous" sports, being the place where bungy jumping was invented.
there is now bungy swings, para bungys, bungy rockets, nappy bungy, chair bungy, church bungy, etc...
during the winter period, it attracts many snowboarders to the various peaks close by.

it's pretty much impossible to see the horizon from queenstown, there's always a mountain range in the way.
the remarkables dominate the view, dark peaks jutting from behind rounded hills.

queenstown lies next to lake wakatipu, it's a Z shaped lake, with queenstown at one elbow.
the earnslaw, a steam boat, cruises up and down it through out the day.
para bungy boats ply their trade, with "smiley" parachutes.
and various jet boats speed in and out the harbour, doing "hand brake turns" to scare their patrons.

queenstown, as toby says, has now soul.
it's a resort town, filled with japanese tourists and british students working in the shops.
there's not a great deal to it, as a town.
there's not one traffic light
but i can recommend habebes for lunch and @thai or winnie's for dinner

i spent 4 weeks in queenstown. i did the following things -
went to bob's cove, a secluded beach on lake wakatipu
did a strenuous walk from the house, up the hill, called "one mile creek". this was viewed as preparation ...
visit arrowtown, go for a walk there. arrowtown is one of the gold rush towns, it looks like little has changed
toby and i visited dunedin, to stay with jo's mum and dad. we went to tunnel beach
we did the routeburn trek, a 3 day, 32km walk
toby and i climbed up the back of the remarkables for a magnificent view of the lake and town
toby and i spent 3 days in milford, kayaking on the sound and walking
i took a gondola ride above queenstown
that was my birthday
i went on a scenic flight over to milford sound
toby cooked a curry

the routeburn trek was pretty incredible.
you book a bunk in huts in advance, walk through wilderness and stay in these huts at the end of each day
there are 2 types of huts, ones for ordinary walkers and ones for "guided walkers"
the guided folk don't have to carry everything they need
they get showers and proper beds to sleep in
at the huts, there's a really nice atmosphere, everyone has walked to them.
there's a shared feeling of accomplishment.
and you get to know people over the time.
there's a tangible feeling of disappointment when you see the car park at the other end.

there's a road up the back of the remarkables to the ski centre, it goes up about 70% of the way.
toby and i walked the rest, up a track that becomes a snowboard track during winter.
you walk up the back, reach the top, slowly clear a saddle and are presented with a view.
you can see down 2 arms of the lake.
you can see queenstown and the hills look like dimples on the land.
it's an awe inspiring view, but it's a bit cold.
after 10 minutes, my hands were very cold, a deep red colour.
even half way down the road, you're afforded a terrific view over to arrowtown.

milford sound is actually a fiord, carved out by glaciers.
on one side of the fiord is mitre peak, a point, with a sea cliff falling 1 mile into the sea
you can fly in or drive
to drive means a 300km drive from queenstown, to te anau and the divide ( where the routeburn ends )
and go through "homer tunnel"
it's a rather daunting experience, after a few yards of level travel, the tunnel seems to disappear
it goes into a steep gradient
there are no lights inside, just reflectors. so, use your head lights.
we were blessed with glorious weather.
we stayed at the milford lodge, more bunks.
first thing next day, we went kayaking, part way down the fiord and then back.
in the afternoon, we walked through the bush. it was more like a tropical forest.
the next day, it rained. very hard.
once dry mountain cliffs sprang waterfalls, as if the whole valley was crying.

thankfully, the scenic flight went over parts of new zealand i'd visited already.
i saw the routeburn trek paths.
the bush walk we'd taken.
milford lodge.
lake te anau

highlights
day 2 of the routeburn
the view from the remarkables
surrounded by dolphins on milford sound
flying over mountains

lowpoints
dropping my phone in lake wakatipu
the parts of routeburn where my body said "no"
dropping my little camera
the sand flies in milford