Queenstown Travel Blogs | Travelogues | Travel Journals

I could have had a sleep in this morning; however, I did not want to waste my last morning in Queenstown, in bed. So, I took myself off to the bus and into town. Today was the first overcast day we had. I was quite surprised by the clouds. I guess Queenstown was just as sad as I was that I was leaving today.   I found myself heading for ‘Bob’s Weigh’, in my opinion the best little coffee shop in Queenstown. This brightly coloured coffee shop served fantastic coffee, and from wha...

Having accomplished my mission in Wanaka, I can now die a happy man. Or not. Fortunately, the 'to do before I die' list is still long. Both for life and for this trip I'll happily continue ticking stuff off the list. Now that I arrived in Queenstown, there's one obvious challenge on the list to tackle: 3, 2, 1, BUNGY! Queenstown advertises itself as the adventure capital of the world, and that might actually be true. Paragliding, bungy jumping, skydiving, jetboat racing, canyon swings: ...

This was to be our last full day in Queenstown and we had gotten our fix of skiing out of our system and were ready for the tourist day trip out to Milford Sound.  There are numerous companies that offer day trips out to Milford Sound - some of them vary in price but they all seem to offer similar variations of the same thing - bus trip (full day) plus boat trip on Milford Sound with lunch.  Depending on the type of lunch you want is where the price point will differ.  The day ...

Visited the south island of NZ in August 2004 for a snowboarding holiday. The snow was a bit lacking so I got out and about to see the sites.

actually a fjord and not a sound, milford is a beautiful place a few hours drive away from queenstown and a must do while here! the bus ride gets better as you get near milford sound: you drive through a deep valley with waterfalls left and right (if it was raining the days before as it did for us) - amazing! luckily rain stopped but we still had some clouds above us it's fascinating how commercialized milford is, even compared to the ultrahigh tourist density anywhere here in ...

Today we went to Milford Sounds. It is a glacier water way (carved by glaciers). We had to get our bus at 6:30 (a.m.) to go out there. It is about a 5 hour drive to the sound. Then we take a 2 hour boat ride through the sound & out into the Tasmin Sea. It is so beautiful. There is waterfalls, huge cliffs coming out of the water that can reach 2500 feet, & lush forest. Then we take a the bus back into town. We did not get dropped off at our hostel until 8:00. It was a very long day, bu...

Today we set off for Kawarau Bridge so that Andrew can do his bunjy jump.  He was booked in early and spectators were starting to turn up. He jumped! What more can you say! We then went to the Shotover Jet boat and decided that we would have a go on that one. After all, what had I done! I'm not a thrillseeker but wanted to see the scenery. It wasn't too bad and the scenery was great.  From there we had to head back to town to return the car. We had lunch, returned the car and then A...

Dart River Safari: boat ride & walk in the woods .   Extreme sports enthusiasts knock this activity as being a bit on the tame side. But I think they must be missing the point. After all, this corner of the world is so awe-inspiring it was chosen as the setting for Lord Of the Rings; it would be kind of a shame to miss out on the magnificence because you’re busy watching your life flash before your eyes instead.   However, that said, the safari’s hardly a drive wit...

Well its been a week since I've updated my blog. I haven't stopped since then. All the days are getting hazy in  my head  it was total sensory and adreanaline pumping activty overload. I can't believe I did so much in such a short time but I'll do my best to remember. Acivity wise I did jet boating, river surfing, the bridge bungy, the luge, as well as two hikes up Queenstown Hill and Ben Lomand. Queenstown labels itself as the adventure capital of the world which is a title it can ...

(another old entry out of the archives)December 16th 2004 At times life can be slow, relaxing; however, the past couple days have to be far from anything considered slow. My journey on the Intercity bus from Christchurch to Queenstown was filled with hazy semi-concious mirages of  paradise of mountain flowers with majestic backgrounds of snow capped mountains and rolling contours. Once again the colours of NZ continue to broaden their horizons and shock. Queenstown, small, ...

Today is the day that we depart Queenstown.  We'll fly to Auckland and Mom and Dad will go on ahead to the States on their return.  I am staying over another day, as I could not get us all out on the same day using my frequent flier miles.  Go figure. We had some time to kill before our flight, so we went to the main square in Queenstown for a final look around and some last minute shopping that my Mom wanted to do.  I strolled along Steamers Wharf on Lake Wakatipu a...

What an incredible day! This morning we boarded a jet boat and roared down the shotover river and through it's tight and twisty canyons. To be honest it wasn't overly adrenalised but it was really good fun as we and 10 other (old aged) people (yes, average age in our jet boat was about 50!) hurtled along the river doing 360 degree spins and close-to-the-rocks-while-at-180-degree's fly-pasts.We thought this was going to be all there was today as the weather was supposed to be so bad but it t...

I packed my bags after a week of fun snowboarding, bungy jumping and day tripping in Milford Sound. The plan was to head north up the West Coast. The next morning I boarded a bus for a short one hour trip to Wanaka, a small town just north of Queenstown. I'd visited the ski slopes at Wanaka earlier in the week but this time I was just passing through.

Hey everybody, I'm back in the crazy city that doesn't sleep - Queenstown.  I completed my bottom bus loop with a trip to Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park.  It was absolutely gorgeous!  We were really lucky and couldn't have asked for a nicer day.  The trip included a drive along one of the nicest roads in New Zealand.  There is some risk of avalanches along the way but we did occasionally stop for some photos.  There were some lakes that were so still w...

Hey we have blue skies again, thank god, but it really is bitterly cold....I dropped Kieran at the airport as he is flying to Auckland today and headed back into town and booked into a campsite so that I have a fully heated camper for tonight and then its off to do todays mad adrenalin activity. Today I played at being in Top Gun, now this looks like it was scary but it really isnt, I laughed the whole time I was up there trying to fly, the instructions on how to fly sounded so easy, in reali...