April 4-5, 2019: Two Days in Mt. Cook
April 6-8, 2019
We woke up for an early 8 a.m. departure to Queenstown with pit stops at Terrace and Arrowtown. Arrowtown is a historic gold mining town. The cutest part about it is the main shopping street is made up of preserved buildings which makes it look like an old western. We arrived and checked in at the beautiful Queenstown Park Hotel. Of course, we got lost on the way there because of a confusing map and GPS.
Queenstown
We had a moment of thinking we were going to Doubtful Sound the next day, but were relieved when we realized we had a buffer day. We were not ready for another long day of driving. Instead, we wandered around town and again, got lost trying to scope out a place for dinner. Our second Indian food meal was at Bombay Palace. On our way back to the hotel, we noticed a Jucy Snooze hostel. I was familiar with the Jucy vans from camping, but this was my first time seeing an actual brick and mortar establishment. After some research, I found out that Jucy was founded in New Zealand. In addition to campervans and hostels, they also offer scenic cruises.
We woke up and had a yummy breakfast downstairs. We did our usual grocery shopping at Fresh Choice. My mom and I then took a walk around the botanical gardens while dad watched the final four. Once that was over, they switched and dad and I took the Southern Hemisphere’s steepest gondola ride with Skyline Queenstown. Up at the spectacular viewpoint, we watched people of all ages luge down a winding track and took a small “hike.” Today was another burger crave night. We had heard good things about Fergburger, known for their creative burgers and long line. However, we decided to try Fergburger’s cousin, Devil Burger. The chef from Fergburger went to start Devil Burger. We were able to enjoy a burger without the wait. Our final critique was that the topping were top notch, but the patties were pretty thin. We had happy hour at the hotel and had an early bedtime to get ready for our long day to Doubtful Sound.
Doubtful Sound
We had a 6:30 am breakfast for a 7:15 am pick up. We took a bus from downtown to Lake Manipuri where we went across the lake and bussed again to Doubtful Sound. Two out of three days are rainy in this area. We were visiting on the one out of three days of non rain. What luck! We took a three hour cruise around and learned a variety of facts:
- There are only two native land mammals: the long and the short bat
- Captain Cook was doubtful that the winds would be able to push them back out to sea, hence the name of Doubtful Sound.
- Fresh water from rain mixes with ocean water in the fjord
We finally returned back at 4 pm and arrived back at 8 pm to Queenstown. What a day!
April 9-11, 2019: Three Days in Dunedin