After our short stop at Lake Wanaka which was really just to take photos we headed for Arrowtown.  We made just one more stop at a farm shop.  They have a huge array of fruit and vegies that I believe were grown on the farm.   We all stocked up on them because we hadn’t had access to any fresh fruits and vegies since the tour started.  I bought stone fruit and strawberries.

We arrived in Arrowtown at around 5.15pm and were only given 45 mins to walk around the town.  Our first reaction is that there wasn’t much to see, just the main street.  I’ve since researched the town and realised how big it is and how much there is to do.  I want to go back one day.

The town is an old gold-mining town from and in the 1860′s was a rich source of gold.  The buildings in the main street (the only part of town we really got to see) have been kept intact and transformed into the shops, some of which reflect their heritage.  There is a lolly shop, cafes, an old post office, the Coachman’s Hall and other buildings.  The Remarkable Sweet Shop was my favourite because they sold freshly made fudge.  I discovered a flavour I’d never tried before: Lemon Meringue Pie fudge.  I’d never heard of it but a few fudge experts ie friends have told me that it’s not a new flavour.  Since then I’ve tried it whenever I see it and it’s always delicious.

Unfortunately some of the shops/cafes had already closed.  We were lucky we got to the Sweet Shop when we did because they were about to close but stayed open a little longer.  After a quick lap of the main street I headed back to the coach to continue our drive to Queenstown for the first of our two nights there.  It was our only two night stay so it was going to be great not having to pack up tomorrow to move to our next destination.

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Of a more historic bent is the small former goldrush settlement of Arrowtown, which sits tucked away in the corner of the Wakatipu Basin, 23km south of Queenstown. Yet another former gold mining settlement, its pleasant tree-lined streets with their old historic buildings lie nestled below the foothills of the Crown Range – an apt name given their once rich reserves of gold. Once the gold was exhausted, the town’s economy was centered first on agriculture and, in more recent years, the more lucrative resource of tourism.

Arrowtown provides some respite from the stress and adrenaline highs of Queenstown. It has a fascinating history that is now well presented in the village museum and complemented nicely with a main street that looks like a Hollywood film set. But history and aesthetic aside, behind the old doors and down the alley ways you will find a surprising number of fine shops, cafés, restaurants and pubs in which you can let the infectious and exhausting mania of Queenstown quietly subside.

Looking down its quaint but almost Hollywood-style main street, one hopes this modern form of gold will not destroy its true aesthetic wealth and soul. Autumn sees the village at its most colorful both in scenery and spirit when the hugely popular Arrowtown Autumn Festival takes place.

The next update will be the heart of South Island – Queenstown.

Dinnerrr! Which mummy says it looks disgusting. Lol. It’s actually black bean and lentil soup with celery, spinach, carrots, mushrooms, pasta and tomatoes. And I had to reassure her it’s so black/dark-ish cos of the black beans and it really tasted fine! hahaha. Shot 2 is the crowd right before the test commenced!

Today was also a bump-into-people day. I’m sure some of you can understand this feeling when you just happen to bump into so many people that you know on that same EXACT day! LOL. For all that constant heading outs and what nots, today, I’d bumped into Holly (the girl with the same host as me for Operation Friendship) whilst walking to the gym. It’s the first time that I’d actually bumped into her which is rather odd considering that we are both staying at the ilam apartments (oh well, may be not that odd since there are loads of blocks here). But anyway, we had a short chat. Just some random catching up. She’s really such a nice and sweet girl. And, I really admire her ability to come up with conversation topics. haha! really. So no awkward silences at all. phew. So glad that her tests went well so far and we are both just as excited about the farmstay that’s gonna happen in 1.5 weeks’ time! zomgggg. It’s a HUGE farm that we are heading to according to Yoko (our host). and. I. just. can’t. wait. LOL. But before that, I will have to get past 1 group report, 1 executive summary, 1 group presentation, 2 essays (thankfully I have completed 1 of them) and 1 mid term test. sighpieee. I guess, on the bright side, at least I have something to look forward to! comeonzzz. Then I’d also bumped into Shers at the gym! And whilst walking to school for the test earlier, I’d bumped into another 2 of my roommates! LOL.

Updates for Day 6 of the roadtrip!

Day 6 marks the second day of skiing, of which we had loadz of fun on the first day. Woke up at 730am for brekkie before heading off to The Remarkablesss. But somehow, despite all the fun that we had on Day 1, there was a tinge of reluctance to go skiing. hmm… Perhaps it was the tired bodies screaming that it wants a break after a full day of skiing the day before (even though, despite skiing for the full day yesterday, we didn’t feel tired at all at night. OHHH. one bad thing was just that since we didn’t wear any shades for skiing, my eyes were really tiring and “aching” the night before. And that was the oh-we-learnt-that-in-school moment. Probably in physics class or sth that the sun’s rays that reflects off the snow is actually more powerful that if it was just off the normal ground surface. So yep, after all that glare, it hurt, kinda bad.). And a side reason was also that we had wanted to explore elsewhere? teehee. After hearing so much about Arrowtown (which was really near Queenstown) and Lake Wanaka, we were thinking of checking out from Queenstown early (3 nights in Queenstown was probably a little too much for us in terms of the nominal side). Anyway, in the end, we headed off for our novice pack at the ski lodge which was a 1 hr 45 min ski lesson.

Just as we were about to collect our rental clothes, we were told that our package didn’t include clothes! :O And that it was a mistake on Day 1 that they made by passing us the clothes. Thankfully, they didn’t charge us for Day 1′s rental as well and that we had just gotta top up in order to get the clothes. Of which, we definitely didn’t have a choice considering our attire. LOL. jokes.

Some random shots

So yep, the ski lesson was kindaboring. I think we chose the wrong group from the start. For the novice lessons, the ski instructors were asking if we could do turns on slopes relatively steadily before splitting us up. Being kinda worried about what the moreadvanced team would do, I chose the lighter version. In the end, what we did was just basically what we did on the second lesson the previous day. But oh well, at least, I had some takeaways from it too. so not too bad! My turns were much more steady on Day 2 and I was able to control the speed better without having to use the stickthings to push off for speed cos I braked too hard. AND! I’d managed to do the cones circuit thing which I didn’t manage to succeed doing on Day 1! YAY! So yep, after the class, we got kinda adventurous and decided to take the SKI LIFT! It was so funny because the ski lifts was moving on continuously on the belt and we had to hop around with our long skis, wait for the ski lift to reach and hop onto the seats! I was so scared that I would just end up with half my butt on the seat and as it took off, fall from some unknown heights! but thankfully, those just happened on my thoughts. phew. The jumping off when you reached the summit was really scary though! I had jumped off off-center, hit RH and we both fell. LOL. joke x 23423458450. phail.

Trial Map showing which route we were gonna conquer! And we conquered THISSS!!! hahaha!

Didn’t manage to take any ski videos on Day 2 since we’d left straight after scaling this ski slope once. Becauseeee…. ARROWTOWN AWAITS! haha.

Here you go! photospammsss

The first thing that we’d actually did when we’d reached arrowtown was to hunt for a bakery. It was my pie craving kicking up! And I was ranting non-stop since Day 1 or Day 2 of this roadtrip that I wanted to eat a pie. Up until Day 6 did I get it. LOL.

Noms. Got myself a venison pie (considering how much beef I’ve had for the last 6 days) and we say by Arrow Bank to eat it. really enjoying nature/life max.

Guess what! I’d found out after that that Arrowtown Bakery was really famous for their pies! And this was THE best pie I’ve ever had. And THE best pie ever for the rest of the roadtrip. And just as how you’d probably counted the number of beef from day 1, it’s also good to start counting the number of pies from Day 6 on. haha! I was almost on a pie diet or sth. LOL!

I’d fallen in love with Arrowtown from the point when I’d gotten off the car. It was the typical town that you’d expect. It’s really tiny and it felt cosy. I loved how the shops had this USS feel. Though that spoils the entire description of the place. But you know at USS where there are shops which has this retro/vintage feel, this town certainly brought that out and I would definitely not mind retiring here one day. someday. LOL.

I’d thought that this Remarkables Sweet Shop fitted well in this town unlike the outlet in Queenstown which was just weird.

Had an ice cream before we’d left arrowtown for good! Till we meet again!!

Once we were back at Queenstown, because it was too early for dinner, we headed for a short stroll around and eventually settled for Chinese foodddd! And check out this photo at the Chinese restaurant! I bet you wont be able to guess what this is! IT’S ACTUALLY ABALONESSS! Definitely a first for me to see it in it’s shell form.

Right before we headed back, with the left over bread that I had, we went to feed some ducks! So happen, there was this guy with his child that were feeding the ducks too! Awww. It wasn’t such a pleasant event for the little boy at first because given his height, as he tried to feed the ducks, they pecked on his tinylittle finger and he started crying! But then after, he totally loved feeding them after being in his daddy’s armsss. Its amazing how fast children forget and get back to happy mood almost instantanously.

Back at the apartments, we’d found out that we’ve got new roommateesss! Oh, and before that, we had 6 Aussie dudes living under our 1 roof. LOL. it was krazyyyy. And with more additions, the entire house got really lively. These 2 new friends that I’d made so happened to be from UC and stays at Ilam too! Zippo (from Kenya) and Michael (from the Philippines) are doing their post grads. They are really friendly and for once, we’d stayed out long enough to chat with the people living with us! LOL.

Alrightyyy. That’s all for the updates on Day 6.

On another note, I miss all that bakingbaking that I was doing back at home. So i guess I will just photospam the stuff that I’ve baked before to reminiscence. Kinda having this urge to bake and I wanna try to bake bread! bananawalnutmuffin.blueberrymuffin.applecrumble.redvelvetcupcake.cheesetart.eggtart.fruittart.chocolatecake.sausageroll… sighpieeee.

xoxo.

So we met in the center of Queenstown and headed into a isite to ask for directions. They told us the best place to hitch was Frankton, out by the airport. Without much thought we set off walking in that direction. Frankton is about a twenty-minute drive outside Queenstown. It’s not too far bu when you think that every apartment block along the road is Frankon it seems like a lifetime. About a half hour outside the town we started to think that maybe we should have gotten the bus. This feeling persisted for the rest of our walk. An hour and a half worth of a walk.

Eventually we arrived! Never have I been so happy to see McDonald’s Golden Arches coming over the horizon. Once there we went to the usual place stood with our sign and got picked up after ten minutes. Amazingly easy as always. If we were smart we would have just hitched to Frankton from Queenstown but the thought never crossed our minds… Planning is not really our strong point.

Arrotown is tiny. One street with nobody on it. The shop fronts all look like facades from an old Western film. Despite the whole Western look of the place the overall feeling was something closer to Deliverance. Country folk driving flatbed trucks through fields were the only other people we saw. The sun goes down earlier in the day up here because of the hills surrounding the area. It is also significantly colder up here as we’re at a much higher altitude.

We decided to put the uneasy feelings aside and go for a wander. On walking down the street we realise that it is 15:00 on a Sunday afternoon therefore everything is closed. After our long walk and lack of success we went to get some pies. The pies will make everything better.

We entered the small bakery. Stood in the center of the shop and spent ten minutes staring at the menu, weighing up all the options and eventually coming to our delicious decision. I approached the counter, mouth salivating, to order. Our trip to Arrowtown would be worth while in a matter of moments.

“Sorry, we’ve no pies today.”

“None?”

“No, sorry.”

Unable to get over our loss and leave the shop. The three of us stood in the middle of the floor saying nothing. Distraught is the only word for it.

Given our epic failure of a day we decided to return to Queenstown. Ten minutes outside town, freezing cold and the sun is dipping behind the hill. We get picked up by a local and his kid and dropped to the center of Queenstown. It takes several minutes to adjust to the sight of people on the street but we pull through it! To make up for the day we head to Fergburger, the world-famous burger. This is a damn fine burger. Warm and returned to civilisation we may not have had a successful day but we did achieve one of our intentions; Trinny is no longer afraid of being murdered!

Good day!

We had a long, cold day wandering about Queenstown while our car was in the shop getting its Warrant of Fitness (WOF) and its new brake pads to pass. We’d tackled our “Getting Settled in Queenstown List” and decided that a nice date night was in order.

We headed to Arrowtown, which is a historic gold mining town about 20 minutes away from Queenstown. It’s a cute little town and I absolutely adore it’s cobblestone gutters that line the street.

We went to see Salmon Fishing in the Yemen at Dorothy Browns. Dorothy Browns is an eclectic boutique cinema situated in the heart of Arrowtown. It has Chinese silk ceilings, chandeliers, cozy blankets to snuggle up with in your comfy, oversized theatre chairs and to top it off, they serve wine before the movie and at intermission. If you’re ever near the area, I’d highly recommend stopping in to see a film. (http://www.dorothybrowns.com/)

Dorothy Browns Boutique Cinema

After the movie we decided to go grab a bite. We’d parked by a little place that looked perfect. We decided to go into “The Fork and Tap” and were pleasantly surprised. The ambience was cozy, it was warm, service was more than friendly, and to top it off we had an incredible meal. We split a burger (complete with beetroot and aioli) as well as some Moroccan Baked Beans with rosemary marinated feta, a gorgeous salad and grilled ciabatta. I’m now dying to recreate the beans. This is another place that I’d highly recommend if you ever make it to Arrowtown.

All in all it was a perfect night out.

Until next time, keep doing a good job!

Erin & Jon

New Zealand is such a beautiful country, and especially the South Island.  I love the outdoors and I love cycling, so cycling the 150km  Central Otago Rail Trail is my ideal holiday.  I’ve been wanting to do it for years, but life kept getting in the way, until one day I said to Graham “let’s just do it!”.   By the end of the day we had  booked our flights and had our names on a 5-day guided cycle tour.

Although I love the outdoors, I’m not a “roughing it” type (I blame this on my dad, ‘cos he used to drag me out deer stalking in the Urewera National Park when I was a kid – he had no sons, so I was it!)    Not for me, I prefer a comfortable bed, flushing toilet and a plug for my hair drier!  Anyway, we digress!  We chose to do the ride over five days, using hired bikes, staying overnight in historic gold towns with quality accommodation, food and a smiling hostess to meet us every 12kms or so along the trail, with food, drink and comfort.  There are other options, some people do the whole trail in one day, by themselves, but we wanted to have a leisurely ride and take the time to “smell the roses” and explore.

View out to Lake Wakitipu from top of Skyline, Queenstown, NZ

We decided to spend a day in Queenstown before doing the cycle trip, and a day at Dunedin at the other end.  So early one Monday in March, we boarded an early flight to Queenstown.    It was a beautiful summer day when we arrived, despite the chill in the air.  We spent the morning wandering along the beautiful marina which runs alongside Lake Wakatipu, through the centre of the township where we stopped at one of  the many cafes.  We then made our way to the Skyline and caught a gondola up to the top.  We noticed walk ways and a cycling track meandering up the side of the mountain, but decided to save our cycle legs for the ride the next day.    Absolutely stunning views on the way up, overlooking the Queenstown township and Lake Wakatipu!  At the top, there were kids enjoying the lunge rides, forest trails to walk, and bungy jumping and paragliding for the more adventurous.We were tempted with the idea of going paragliding, but couldn’t pluck up the courage!

Queenstown cafes

TSS Earnslaw on Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown

View of Queensland and Lake Wakatipu, from the Skyline

We had booked ourselves on a 4WD guided tour to Arrowtown in the afternoon.   Arrowtown is an old gold mining town, built on the banks of the Arrow River, about 20 mins out of Queenstown and is steeped in history.   Arrowtown is also very popular for its cycling and walking tracks, and the township itself is beautiful and quaint, and houses a very impressive museum.

Arrowtown main street

Arrow River, site of Lord Of The Rings filming, Arrowtown

The 4WD drive through the Arrow River was awesome.  We panned for gold and surveyed the location of the Lord of the Rings filming.  Arrowtown is one of my favourite places!

The following morning we were picked up by our tour guide, Heidi, and met the other members of our tour, two couples from Taranaki.  We made our way to Cromwell, stopping along the way to view some bungy jumping and stop at a lovely vineyard for lunch.  We enjoyed sampling their wines and scrumptious food.   On our arrival at Cromwell we checked out our hire  bikes and took them for a ride around Lake Dunstan.  Another beautiful setting!

The day finally arrived – Heidi dropped us off at  Clyde and we began our 150km adventure!  Throughout the ride we were treated to stunning scenery!  Graham (who quickly became our group photographer) was in his element, and he got some excellent photos, some of which are going on our wall at home.

At each station we stamped our Otago Central Rail Trail passports at the replica NZ Railways Dept emergency phone box houses along the way.  Interpretation panels told much of the history of bridges, viaducts and tunnels and Heidi was a wealth of information, and we were in awe at the thought of men hauling vast quantities of large stones, steel and wood, by hand, to construct some of the amazing viaducts we rode across.  At the Ranfurly Station was a display dedicated to the 21 lives that were lost in the train crash in 1943, and the virtual train ride gave an interesting insight into the history of the Otago Rail Track.  We stayed at beautiful towns along the way, and the accommodation, food and wine were second to none!  In fact, despite the fact that we were cycling for four days, we had both put on weight by the end of the trip!

The Vulcan Hotel, St Bathans

St Bathans

Omakau Station (me). Notice the NZ Rail Station replica phone box. We stopped at these boxes at each station to stamp our Central Otago Rail Station passports.

On our last day of the cycling trip, the sky started to cloud over and just before we departed on the Taieri Gorge train to Dunedin, rain started falling in bucketfuls.  We had had gorgeous weather until then, although we heard on the news that back in Auckland they had had thunderstorms in our absence!  You’d think that after four days on a bike seat, you’d be relieved it was over, but I was actually disappointed, I just wanted to keep on riding – didn’t want it to end.

We arrived in Dunedin in the evening and were amused when our taxi driver informed us that  we had arrived in the middle of the students’ annual keg party.  (Dunedin is the home of Otago University which has 25,000 students who have a reputation for their partying ways!)    On arrival at our motel, the motelier apologetically offered us earplugs!  We did venture out to get some takeaways but quickly returned to the sanctuary of our motel room!  Surprisingly, by 10pm the place was quiet, but perhaps not so surprising when you consider that they had been partying since 5am.

Dunedin train station

The next day we set off on foot to explore Dunedin.  Dunedin’s train station is a sight to see, and apparently one of the most photographed buildings in New Zealand.  We visited the Dunedin Botanical Gardens and then took a look at Baldwin Street, the steepest residential street in the world. We were going to walk to the top, but ran out of time as we had a plane to catch back to Auckland.  It’s true!!!

Baldwin Street, Dunedin – the world’s steepest residential street.

Anyway, we definitely have good memories of our trip, and I want to see more of New Zealand’s beautiful South Island!  The next trip might be a motorcycle road trip!

What was your favourite holiday?  I’d love to hear from you!

The Arrow River flows towards the beautiful township of Arrowtown in the district of Queenstown Lakes, Central Otago – located approximately 20km northeast of Queenstown.

This image was captured close to where ‘Lord of the Rings’ was filmed. The Ford of Bruinen was located just upstream of Arrowtown – and it was here that Arwen Evenstar, daughter of Elrond, carried the injured and dying Frodo across the river on horseback, with the Black Riders close behind!

The former gold mining town of Arrowtown is a living, historic holiday destination. Spectacular scenery, with four very distinct seasons and a tranquil atmosphere attracting visitors from New Zealand and around the world.

At the heart of the Southern Lakes District, Arrowtown’s long hot summer days and stunning autumn colours are followed by crisp clear winters and a verdant spring.

The seasonal changes are best reflected in the historic tree lined avenue, where in autumn the leaves of gold and red are celebrated with the annual autumn festival.

To read more about the delights of Arrowtown, please click here!

Camera Model: Nikon D700; Lens: Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G; Focal length: 16mm; Aperture: f/22; Exposure time: 1/10s; ISO: 200

Filter: Formatt Hitech; Neutral Density Graduated (ND 0.9 Soft Edge)

Carl Cox’s top grub spots

Clubland: Doug Shields prepares to see his golfball ‘pathetically limp over the cliff edge’

I’m holding a golf club on a small ledge almost 1,500m above sea level on New Zealand’s South Island.

The Eyre Mountains lie in front of me, the Remarkables range is behind me and Queenstown – adventure capital of the world, no less – is to my right.

I soon learn that extreme golf is just one way to kill an afternoon in this part of the world.

I tee off and look expectantly into the powder blue sky – but the ball, pathetically, limps over the cliff edge.

Carl Cox is standing behind me and roars with laughter.

Carl Cox was taking a break from a mammoth tour

The superstar DJ is taking a two-week break from his current tour, which involves 140 gigs in 25 countries, and I have been invited to join him and his friends riding around New Zealand’s two islands on six of the latest Ducati bikes.

Oh, go on then.

This is Carl’s fourth trip to New Zealand because he believes it is one of the best countries in the world to explore by motorbike.

Each day we’re in the saddle for six or seven hours, often hitting the road by 9am.

Lunch is brief, sometimes no more than a sandwich, then we’re back on the bikes, only stopping when the Sun sets.

All in a day’s work: Detonating explosives in Banbury mine

Most of the South Island’s roads twirl up, around and back down the mountains – Carl and his friends refer to them as ‘twisties’.

They often perch at the top of cliff-faces with little more than a small barrier between the carriageway and oblivion.

‘The roads are a test of a motorcyclist’s skill. One mistake up in the mountains and you’re a goner,’ Carl says.

‘Some roads are so tight it feels as though you are going around in circles.’

In fact, speed limits often drop to as low as 15kmh as the white lines disappear around a corner.

Doug Shields and Carl Cox perch atop Cecil Peak Ledge above Queenstown

The rest of the sparsely populated island is woven with a Tarmac tapestry of long, straight, traffic-free carriageways that scythe through lush plains and glint like the blade of a sword when caught in the sun.

Since my extreme golf session, I have been wading through the leaflet Things To Do In Queenstown.

It contains a whopping 154 pages of paragliding, alpine helicopter rides, white-water rafting, skydiving, stunt plane rides, horse safaris, scuba diving, bungee jumping and kayaking.

For the more chilled-out tourist, there are sailing trips, lake cruises and mountain walks.

Only 18,000 people live in Queenstown but 100 times that many visit every winter for the skiing.

Doug Shields and his Ducati on the road to Wanaka

Each year, Carl and his pals pick an adrenalin-filled activity or two to break up the riding.

This time it was the extreme golf, which involved a 15-minute helicopter ride to the snow-capped ledge.

The other was the Shotover River Jet Boat Cruise.

The jet boat races along 7km of the river, the second richest in the world because of the precious metal on its riverbed – which sparked a gold rush in 1862.

Apparently, tourists and a handful of locals still pan the Shotover River for gold.

On tour: Carl Cox above Cecil Peak Ledge

We meet pilot Wayne Paton of Over The Top Helicopters – his colleague recently managed to unearth around £2,200 worth of gold.

It’s not all fun and games, though, and this trip isn’t strictly a holiday for Cox.

He plays one gig to a 250-strong crowd at Surreal Bar in Queenstown before heading 18km north-east to Coronet Peak then on to Arrowtown, one of the first towns to prosper from gold mining.

Our journey continues along the west coast where we take in the majestic Franz Josef Glacier before catching a ferry to our next stop: the North Island, home to the capital city of Wellington and the Maori heartland of Rotorua.

It’s flatter, busier and more energetic here but, if like Carl Cox, the only sound you want to hear is the hum of your bike, then it’s all about New Zealand’s South Island.

Air New Zealand flies daily from London Heathrow to New Zealand via Los Angeles or five times a week via Hong Kong from £816 per person return. Book by April 30http://www.airnewzealand.co.uk/metro. Upgrade to Economy Skycouch (via LA) from £169 per sector.Check out Carl Cox’s exclusive road-trip inspired playlist onboard Air New Zealand’s In-flight entertainment system nowFor more information about travel to New Zealand visit http://www.newzealand.com and check out the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/purenewzealandQueenstown, Surreal Bar + Restaurant

Surreal Bar in Queenstown

‘This is the friendliest place in town. I would recommend steak and salad. I really like the owners, Mel and Erick; they make an effort to meet their customers.’

The Slip Inn, Havelock

‘Go for the green-lipped mussels or mussel soup with garlic bread. It’s incredible, priced at around £12.’

Nin’s Bins, Kaikoura

‘Nin’s Bin is a roadside caravan that serves the best crayfish on the South Island. A whole crayfish in garlic butter is around £38.’

Portofino, Taupo

‘This is my favourite Italian restaurant on the North Island.’

I was particularly looking forward to seeing Queenstown, and not only because it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful spots in New Zealand. It is quite beautiful – a small city on Lake Wakatipu, surrounded by a mountain range aptly named The Remarkables. Known as the birthplace of bungy jumping (commercially, anyway), Queenstown is New Zealand’s adventure capital. It is a popular tourist town, where people flock during the winter months for skiing and in the summer months for jet boating, river rafting, horse trekking, and canyon swinging.

Lake Wakatipu

But I wasn’t in Queenstown for the adventure sports, at least not on this visit. I didn’t think that Mom and Kevin would be especially keen to go skydiving or bungy jumping (I wasn’t even keen to go bungy jumping), so we spent most of our time in Queenstown sightseeing and, what I was most looking forward to, visiting with my friend Natasha.

I met Natasha my first week in Wellington when she and I were both staying in the Wellywood hostel. We were both in New Zealand on working holiday, she from England and me from the U.S. After we each moved into our own flats, we would still often meet for lunch at our favorite café on Cuba Street, Espressoholic, to catch up and discuss jobs, relationships, travel, and plans for the near and distant future.

In December, Tash moved to Cromwell, a little town outside of Queenstown, to take a job at a café. I hadn’t seen her in a few months, so I was excited to have the chance to catch up with her during our trip.

Even when she's on the other side of the world, Mom finds her way to the library

Mom, Kevin and I spent the morning exploring Queenstown, wandering in and out of shops and strolling along the waterfront. Mom and I visited the local library while Kevin watched a rugby team practicing in a nearby field. Walking back to our motel, we watched paragliders drift down from the mountains above us and softly land in the school grounds next door.

Around noon, we drove to Cromwell to pick up Natasha. I was doubly excited to see her because, not only has she become a good friend, but Natasha, even more than I, is a huge Lord of the Rings fan. I knew that she would be an avid partner in hunting for filming locations.

Throughout the trip, Mom and Kevin had generously offered to stop at LOTR sites, but I kept declining. It wouldn’t be as much fun without someone who really knew the stories and who would be just as geekily enthusiastic as I was. With Natasha, I had that person. Who knows, maybe our mutual nerdiness is part of what drew us together in the first place.

The first location we looked for was the iconic Pillars of the Kings, which was filmed at the Wairau River Gorge. The spot was easy to find – it was along the highway connecting Queenstown and Cromwell, right across from the famous A.J. Hackett’s Bungy Jump Bridge.

We drove up a narrow dirt road that ran uncomfortably close the gorge’s precipice. Natasha and I spent a few minutes consulting my copy of Ian Brodie’s Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook (Extended Edition) then pointing at different spots in the gorge below, trying to find the exact place that matched the picture in the book. When we were satisfied that we had found the spot and were looking at it from the right angle, we snapped several pictures, then stood for a few minutes breathing in the scenery and the scent of wild thyme that grew all around.

Pillars of the Kings

Our next stop was a little town called Arrowtown, about halfway between Cromwell and Quenstown. Besides containing two LOTR locations, it was quite a charming place to visit. An old mining town, Arrowtown is now a strip of shops and restaurants neighbored by cozy houses, a golf course, and a river flowing through the surrounding woods and mountains. Remnants of the town’s mining past are still evident in the style and architecture of its downtown shops.

We came to the first of the two filming locations quickly upon entering Arrowtown. Following Ian Brodie’s directions, we turned down a neighborhood road and parked next to a wooded path along a river, which, Natasha and I were thrilled to see, looked just like a setting we remembered from The Return of the King: the Gladden Fields. This peaceful spot in the woods is where the One Ring of Power slips from Isildur’s finger and into the river moments before he is killed by orcs, and where, centuries later, the hobbit Deagol innocently discovers it at the bottom of the river before being murdered by his cousin Smeagol, who is already drawn by the ring’s power.

Where Smeagol first discovers his "precious"

It is a lovely, quiet place in contrast with the ominous events that happen there, a setting that creates a sense of calm before the storm. Of course, in real life, without orcs and rings of power, the calm is all there is. Natasha and I walked up and down the path taking pictures, listening to the rush of the stream, and enjoying the fresh autumn scents of dirt and wood and leaves.

We left the Gladden Fields and made our way to Arrowtown’s shopping strip. Natasha took us to her favorite bakery, where we all ordered pies and pastries. We ducked into a few shops, and then while Mom and Kevin rested along the riverbank, Natasha and I went off in search of our next location, the Ford of Bruinen.

The river curved around a hill, and we suspected that the exact spot we were looking for must be behind that hill. To get there, we needed to cross to a stony mound that ran along the center of the river, so we found a shallow spot, kicked off our shoes, rolled up our pants, and waded across the icy stream. When we rounded the river’s curve and the scene came into view, we had no doubt that we were in the right spot. Not only did it look exactly as it had in The Fellowship of the Ring, but on the river’s opposite bank, we saw a tour company’s jeep and a group of Asian tourists posing for pictures against the backdrop of river and hills.

Our vantage point wasn’t very good, so Natasha decided to wade across the river, which was much deeper at this point. (My jeans wouldn’t roll up high enough). I watched her cross from rock to wobbly rock with my camera in her hand, trying to keep her balance against the strong current, as she shouted in horror, “It’s freeeezing!” and in elation, “I’m fording the ford!”

"If you want him, come and claim him!"

We snapped dozens of pictures, and we oohed and ahhed, reciting lines from the film and recounting how Arwen sent the water rising up and surging over a pack of Nazgul and their horses. Then, our LOTR craving satisfied for the day, we turned and walked back to where Mom and Kevin were sitting, and the four of us drove back to Queenstown for some more normal tourist activities.

One of the most popular tourist activities in Queenstown is riding the Skyline Gondolaup to Bob’s Peak where you get the most spectacular views of the city. Mom was not very happy with the idea – though she isn’t afraid of heights, she does not like contraptions like chair lifts and gondolas, and she said she’d rather walk up the mountain. But she agreed to go along with the group anyway, and after a ride that was nerve wracking for her and fun for the rest of us, we arrived at the top of the mountain and looked down at the beautiful city spread out below. The paragliders we’d gazed up at earlier that morning were now at eye level, floating gently and slowly down over the city.

Natasha and I, with beautiful Queenstown below

Natasha and I also bought tickets for the Luge, which is a gravity-powered cart that you ride down a track winding through the mountains. A handle attached to the cart’s front wheels allows you to control your speed. Natasha and I took three turns racing down the mountain tracks, trying to pass the people in front of us, occasionally bumping the walls along the turns, and feeling like kids again.

By the time we rode the gondola back down the mountain, evening was settling in, and we had to drive back out of Queenstown for our dinner reservations at Amisfield Winery. I had been referred to the winery through Chicago friends — a member of my euchre league, before I came to New Zealand, told me that his friend worked at Amisfield. Though his friend had moved back to Chicago by the time I came to Queenstown, he still highly recommended the winery, suggesting that we have the “Trust the Chef” dinner option.

Amisfield Winery

Amisfield was a lovely, and the food was delicious. The meal began with a glass of champagne, then moved through four courses including a salmon appetizer, a mushroom risotto, fish, beef, vegetables, and finished with two desserts, one chocolate and one plum tart with vanilla ice cream.

It had been a long but lovely day in Queenstown. Though it does have a more touristy vibe than many other places in New Zealand, I would still love to spend more time there, hunting for other LOTR locations, trying some adventure activities like paragliding and sky diving, and simply enjoying the incredible scenery.

Readings to ponder: Psalm 104; Genesis 1:1-27, 2:8-9, 15; Colossians 1:15-20

Flying over Wellington Harbour en route to Queenstown

The reversal of the seasons here is something that I’m still getting used to. In New Zealand, autumn officially starts on the first of March (and it is indeed autumn, as opposed to “fall” as we generally call it in the States). In my mind, April means daffodils and hints of pale yellowy-green emerging from the tree branches. Sometimes one last snowfall in the early part of the month. But mostly the coming of spring. Brown robins with their bright orange belly returning to the north.

Here it’s autumn, and it’s very different than the autumns I’m used to. The changes in the seasons aren’t as dramatic in Wellington as they were in New England. The hills outside my window are just as green now as they were in summer, and as they were originally when I arrived in the middle of winter. There are a few more yellow patches of gorse in bloom, but aside from that, the landscape in the lower North Island is mostly unchanged.

The clouds cast a shadow on the hills, but they look about the same as ever.

The South Island is another story entirely.

I’ve spent the past two weeks traveling through the South Island. Autumn in the South Island is a distinct season, and a beautiful one at that.

Autumn foliage in Queenstown

And in nearby Arrowtown:

As beautiful as the colours are, it was strange to see trees that are endemic to the US and Europe on the opposite side of the world. Maples, oaks, poplars, etc., were all brought over by European settlers. There’s no denying that they are beautiful in autumn, and we arrived in Queenstown at the perfect time to enjoy their colours. But a few days later, when we left Queenstown and made our way through national parks and into scenic reserves, there’s just no comparison. The native bush was incredible, and its beauty far exceeded anything that had been introduced.

More stories and photos from the trip to come– stay tuned!

]]> http://traversenz.com/2012/04/18/wanaka-to-queenstown/ Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:05:49 +0000 Kenyon http://traversenz.com/2012/04/18/wanaka-to-queenstown/ http://jessonawhim.com/2012/04/10/autumn-in-otago/ Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:11:08 +0000 Jessica http://jessonawhim.com/2012/04/10/autumn-in-otago/ http://severalwonders.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/of-south-island-queenstown/ Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:14:48 +0000 durodriguez http://severalwonders.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/of-south-island-queenstown/ On Saturday we started the short drive down to Queenstown. Some of the signs indicated that we should take State Highway 6, but we decided instead to take the shorter route, between Mounts Cardrona and Pisa. I’m not really sure why people would take Highway 6, it’s way longer, and the road conditions are probably similar. Maybe the views are better on that side? I don’t know.

Once we got down the mountains, we stopped in Arrowtown, a quaint historic town known for its gold mining days. It’s nice, but a quick walk around was enough to see most of it. Here are a few pictures of the descent from the mountains, and a few in Arrowtown:

Queenstown was only about 20km farther. There were lots of people out and about when we arrived, and not surprisingly since it was the weekend and Saint Patrick’s day. We went straight to the i-SITE and booked a jet boat ride for the next day, which several people had recommended. For the afternoon, the i-SITE lady suggested that we go up to the Skyline complex on Ben Lomond Mountain, and told us we could take the gondola down for free.

We took her advice and hiked up. It was like climbing a kilometer of stairs. And then we found out we had to pay $14 if we wanted to ride the gondola on the way down. Needless to say, we weren’t happy with the i-SITE lady. But the view from the top made it worth it nonetheless:

Once we got back down, we had no desire to go to bars for St. Patty’s day, so we just relaxed that evening. On Sunday our boat ride left from the center of town. We were a little worried, because the i-SITE lady convinced us to go with Skippers Canyon Jet, instead of the much more popular Shotover Jet. She told us the difference was that the first one included a 4×4 drive through the canyon, and so the tour lasted longer. In reality, Shotover has exclusive rights to the closest part of the river, so Skippers needs to take you much farther up. To get there, they drove us in an over-sized vehicle on an undersized dirt road carved out along the cliffs on the canyon. So the “advantage” was that we got an extra half hour each way, riding a bus on the edge of a cliff, feeling like at any moment we might fall to our deaths. At that point we definitely put the i-SITE lady on our blacklist.

Alright, I’m exaggerating a bit, it wasn’t that bad. In fact, the jet boat portion of the ride was awesome. Except since I was expecting to get wet, I wore shorts that day for the first time since Abel Tasman. That was a mistake. I completely forgot that there would probably be sandflies at the river, and I hadn’t put on any bug repellent. They were there in swarms, and they were unforgiving. Even when the boat was going full speed, the flies managed to stay on my legs, where there was no wind. Ultimately I had to just give in and let them suck my blood, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the ride.

But that was my own fault. Really, I don’t think the Shotover jet boat would have been any better than ours, so I can’t complain about that. Here’s a video of the ride, and pictures of the canyon:

There’s also a picture of an old bungy bridge above. Our jet boat went under it, and afterwards we drove up and stopped to get a look. From what I understood, it’s been out of use since the debut of the Nevis bungy (134m, highest in NZ). I’ve always thought about doing a bungy jump, but was dissuaded by the cost (over NZ$200). OK, maybe actually standing on that bridge and looking down didn’t help either.

We got back into town at around 3pm, and I walked over to the Queenstown Gardens (it’s on the little peninsula from this pic). It was a cloudy day though, and sprinkling a bit, so I didn’t stay long.

I just realized this is the first post where I’m writing about the things that went wrong. Nothing against Queenstown, it’s a great place. And I actually omitted a few negative aspects of the beginning of the trip: knee pain from the Abel Tasman hike, slicing my finger on a can of food in St. Arnaud, messy hostel mates in Wanaka etc. But that’s how it goes, you can’t have everything go perfectly on a trip like this…

Lake Te Anau

In Milford Sound, we boarded a ferry which took us for a guided scenic cruise of the Fjord. Yes, Milford Sound is de facto a fjord, but unfortunately, this was only discovered years after it had been given its name. I cannot describe the magnificent beauty that we experienced on this ferry ride (praise be to God). The deep blue waters are surrounded by high mountains which are covered in greenery and at the same time, some are snow-tipped. We were fortunate to have good weather, so we were able to go far out, until we reached the Tasman Sea. We saw some sea lions on the cruise, as they were doing their thing; basking out on the rocks.

Milford Sound Fjord

We were sprayed on by this waterfall

We drove back to Te Anau in the afternoon, and immediately made a reservation to take a tour of the glow-worm caves in the evening. I was just as impressed to discover how the caves are formed, as I was to see the actual glow-worms. Glow worms broadly refer to insects or larvae that glow through bioluminescence; in New Zealand, these are flies. They are extremely sensitive to habitual disturbances, so we had to keep really quiet and we were not allowed to take photographs in the caves.

The next morning, we drove east to Wanaka. On the way, we stopped in Arrowtown. Arrowtown is a historic gold-mining town. The streets are lined with various quaint little stores and restaurants. An obvious jewel for me was a candy store that was stocked up with a variety of sweet treats, mostly from the UK.

Arrowtown

The sweet shop in Arrowtown

We spent one fairly relaxed evening in Wanaka. This was much-needed after the exploring of the previous days. I am not sure if this is a picture of Lake Wanaka, because the South Island holds so many lakes. It is a beautiful picture, so I will share anyway.

Lake Wanaka, I think

the view on the drive

“Once the jumpers came off and you started to warm up it was magnificent but early on the ball wasn’t going very far through the air so you had to judge that a little bit.”

Talking about losing his European Tour card, Mark thought it may work in his favour;

“I’m actually looking forward to playing less, with a bit more time off to do some fitness stuff. The body’s in pretty bad shape. Obviously losing your card in Europe’s not ideal but I’ve looked at it as a positive. I can spend some time at home and get fit and do some meaningful practise. To play at home in front of your family and friends down here is just a dream and I’ve really missed it. It’s just fantastic to be home.”

Starting today’s tournament were 132 professionals who teed off in the hope of winning the trophy.  The top 60 will make the cut today and progress through the weekend to play for the NZ PGA Championship.