New Zealand Bound!
Just in time, it seemed, we launched on our journey to New Zealand!! It was a very rainy winter in Seattle, and a 4-week escape to a sunnier and warmer setting was just what the doctor ordered!
The idea for the trip had been brewing for some time. Our initial draw to New Zealand was that there were mountains for hiking, and we could hike in them during our spring, when our mountains were still snowed in. Kind of like a second fall hiking season for us! As we looked into it more seriously, we kept seeing pictures of stunning scenery and getting glowing reviews (accompanied by starry eyes) from everyone who had been there. Seemed like a great fit!
We picked 4 weeks as a compromise between (a) getting to see lots of stuff without being too rushed, and (b) being gone so long that we possibly got burned out and/or snarly with each other! We decided to focus on just the South Island since it was less populated, more mountainous, and had way more than we could do anyway.
Our itinerary involved arriving in Queenstown (towards the south end of the island), and flying out of Nelson (on the north end). We had 3 "big" activities that required reservations (to be revealed in subsequent posts), and were therefore fixed in time. But we left about half of our time open so we could follow our bliss. But we were armed with a rental car, and lots of ideas of great things to see and do.
The flight there was pretty uneventful, but long (25 hrs door-to-door). It was 3 legs, stopping in SF, and Auckland. Everything went off without a hitch. We even got in some reasonable sleep on the long Trans-Pacific flight! Approaching Queenstown, we got some good views of big mountains, small mountains, near mountains and far mountains! Beautiful blue sky! Lakes! We were pumped (OK, and a bit tired)!
[Go ahead and play with this map. You can zoom in, drag it around, and even go full screen]
Activities
The idea for the trip had been brewing for some time. Our initial draw to New Zealand was that there were mountains for hiking, and we could hike in them during our spring, when our mountains were still snowed in. Kind of like a second fall hiking season for us! As we looked into it more seriously, we kept seeing pictures of stunning scenery and getting glowing reviews (accompanied by starry eyes) from everyone who had been there. Seemed like a great fit!
We picked 4 weeks as a compromise between (a) getting to see lots of stuff without being too rushed, and (b) being gone so long that we possibly got burned out and/or snarly with each other! We decided to focus on just the South Island since it was less populated, more mountainous, and had way more than we could do anyway.
Our itinerary involved arriving in Queenstown (towards the south end of the island), and flying out of Nelson (on the north end). We had 3 "big" activities that required reservations (to be revealed in subsequent posts), and were therefore fixed in time. But we left about half of our time open so we could follow our bliss. But we were armed with a rental car, and lots of ideas of great things to see and do.
The flight there was pretty uneventful, but long (25 hrs door-to-door). It was 3 legs, stopping in SF, and Auckland. Everything went off without a hitch. We even got in some reasonable sleep on the long Trans-Pacific flight! Approaching Queenstown, we got some good views of big mountains, small mountains, near mountains and far mountains! Beautiful blue sky! Lakes! We were pumped (OK, and a bit tired)!
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| Unknown peak, north of Lake Wakatipu |
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| North end of Lake Wakatipu |
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| Unknown ridge, near Lake Wakatipu |
Activities
- Flying: (lots and lots) Seattle > San Fran > Auckland > Queenstown
- Views of glaciated peaks and our tramping route, as our plane neared Queenstown!
- Walking from the international terminal to a separate domestic terminal at the Auckland airport with our 100+ lbs of luggage. There was a bus every 20 minutes, or, you could walk (advertised as 10 minutes). We didn't have tons of time, and the bus just left ... so we walked (and walked and walked), grabbing a free cart part way through. The quoted times were definitely for able-bodied, fit adults (which we fortunately are) ... not a conservative estimate as we assumed. It was our first hint that Kiwi's are serious about their walking.
- Too many to remember!
- Is our flight going to go smoothly? (stress level = medium-low)
- How the hell am I going to cope with driving on the "wrong" side of the road? (stress level = medium-high)
- Is the weather going to work out for our 5-day tramp, so we don't have to turn around part-way through? (stress level = medium)
- Karen: a seat and a half! Tom: a lumpy, short, 3-seat "bed"!!
- Airplane "food". Not great, but passable.
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