100% Pure South Island – Part 3

Welcome to Fabulous Journeys’ third post on the magnificent South Island of New Zealand.

This week, I’ll be covering Queenstown and the gorgeous Fiordland National Park.

Breath-taking Queenstown

Queenstown - Lake Wakatipu

Queenstown is definitely one of the most visited places in New Zealand. Most tourists who visit New Zealand would have this place as a must-see on their itinerary. The first time I visited the town, I flew in from Christchurch. I was awestruck by the natural beauty of the place! As the plane was landing into Queenstown airport, I was blown away by the view of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range. The airport had a great backdrop of the Remarkables. The town itself is situated on the banks of Lake Wakatipu. Many people say that the scenery looks very much like Lake Geneva in Switzerland.  The town itself is buzzing with a lot of shops and tourists around. Nightlife is also an attraction in Queenstown, with travellers and backpackers making up the thriving pub and club scene.

Sights Around Town

Around town, check out the Skyline Gondola, where the cable car can take you up the top of a mountain. Here you can get a breathtaking view of the Remarkables, Lake Wakatipu and the town below. If you are in for some excitement, take the Luge ride at the top of the gondola. It’s basically like a go-cart without an engine that goes downhill on a track by the slopes of the mountain where the gondola is. It’s great fun, and I highly recommend it.

Another place I’d recommend to check out that is unique to Queenstown (well, it started in Queenstown before branching out to Auckland and Sydney) is the Minus 5 bar. This bar is made of ice, from the bar to the bar stool, the tables, the glasses, everything! They provide you with warm jackets and gloves to wear inside the cold storage-like setup, so you don’t need to worry about not having the right attire. It’s an interesting experience, and one that uniquely originated from Queenstown.

Adventure Capital of New Zealand

Bungy Jump

Queenstown has been hailed as the adventure capital of New Zealand. It is here that the world’s first commercial bungy jumping site was built, and is still functioning as the iconic bungy jumping bridge in New Zealand. The bridge is called Kawarau Bridge, it’s 43 metres high, and has been going since 1988. The bridge spans over the Kawarau river, and you have an option to get yourself dunked into the cool river if you wish to have more of an adrenalin rush!

Shotover Jet

Shotover Jet

Aside from bungy jumping, there is also the Shotover Jet, a jetboat ride on the shallow and narrow Shotover river. The ride will take you through the gorge along the Shotover river, and navigate through the narrow gaps in high speed that you’d think the jetboat would hit the gorge itself! The driver also does a 360 degree spin of the jetboat, which could make you feel like getting thrown off your seats! Other great activities would be parasailing on Lake Wakatipu, paragliding and skydiving.

Dart River Kayak and Lord Of The Rings Tour

One activity that I enjoyed doing is Dart River Kayaking (called FunYaks). Basically, the tour starts in a town called Glenorchy, which is 45 minutes away from Queenstown. Then from Glenorchy, the tour takes a jetboat upstream on the Dart River, where at a place/spot aptly called “Paradise”, the jetboat drops off the group and the kayaks are then pumped and inflated. That’s why it’s called FunYaks, because they’re not your traditional kayaks. The tour takes you down the river, into some caverns that look really awesome! That area is also a filming location for the Lord of the Rings.

Speaking of which, if you’re into Lord of the Rings, there is a tour for the filming locations of Lord of The Rings. This will take you to backcountry roads just outside of Queenstown, to the gorgeous mountains, valleys and canyons in the area including Skippers Canyon and Arrow River. It’s a 4WD tour, as there are no sealed or paved roads in some of the  areas that the tour will go to.

Walter Peak Farm

Another interesting trip you can take from Queenstown is a steam boat ride on the TSS Earnslaw along Lake Wakatipu to the Walter Peak Farm. It’s on the other side of the lake and features a typical old farmstead with sheep, scottish yak, and other farm animals. The farmstead offers nice lunch meals, and it also offers a sheep shearing show. It’s a great day out for the kids and family, and those who haven’t experienced a life in the farm. The cruise itself along Lake Wakatipu is worth the trip!

Arrowtown

A small town that looks like it hasn’t changed since the Gold Rush of the 1800s. This is what Arrowtown feels like. Arrowtown is very picturesque, especially in autumn when the leaves start to change in colour. You can visit the Arrow River where part of the Gold Rush happened. People were panning for gold on the banks of the river. Nowadays, you can do your own panning on the riverbanks, and I’ve seen some tourists who do that just for fun. On one end of the town is the remnants of an old Chinese settlement, where the Chinese who worked in the mines during the Gold rush lived. You can read the history about how they lived and the absolute poverty and suffering they had to go through during those times. It’s an amazing story of survival outside of their homeland.

There are also a number of interesting shops along the main street of Arrowtown. This town is only a 10 minute drive from Queenstown, and is accessible by the regular bus service from Queenstown town centre.

Milford Sound and Fiordland National Park

One of the highlights of tourists visiting Queenstown would be a trip to Fiordland National Park, and the magnificent Milford Sound. This area exudes in natural beauty, with lush green forests, lakes and snow-capped mountains around. There is a popular walking track called the Milford Track, where you can tramp (or hike, as non-kiwis would call it) for 3 to 5 days within the national park and then finish off in Milford Sound itself. As you drive along towards Milford Sound, you will go through probably one of the smallest tunnel I’ve seen for motor vehicles, the Homer Tunnel. This is a one-way tunnel and manuevering through is always very tricky. Milford Sound is particularly a place to visit. Take a cruise around the sound and see all the myriads of waterfalls flowing down the fiord itself. The sheer number of waterfalls in the area is just amazing! It’s all due to the persistent rain that this area gets, so if it rains when you’re there, don’t be surprised, it’s normal! If you get to see a sunny day, then you must be very lucky! There are seals hanging around the sound as well, and it’s such an awesome sight to see!

Milford Sound is a 4-hour drive from Queenstown, quite a long drive but totally worth visiting.There are several cruise companies that operate at Milford Sound, and they all have roughly the same price.

Part 4 will cover the road to the West Coast of the South Island, so watch out for this!

Til the next Fabulous Journey!