Queenstown Quota

Several visits = various dates

We came through Queenstown three to four times, a side effect of our decision to rent the VDub from Lyndon with pickup and return in the same place, as well as our plan-as-we-go approach that meant our routes weren’t as efficient as they might have been with more knowledge and forethought. Add to that the limited number of roads on the South Island, and it seems like all paths lead to Queenstown!

We spent a hotel overnight before getting the VDub, a later 2-night stay to return the kombi and accommodate our day trip to Doubtful Sound, then Todd passed through on his way to pick us up at the far end of the Routeburn Track, and finally we had to drive back south to Queenstown before we could drive further north to Wanaka!

When we came back with the VDub, we figured we’d stay in the same hotel with in-room laundry. We soon learned differently – a big influx of Asian tourists were in Queenstown for Chinese New Year and the hotel prices had doubled, or more! We adapted our plans by accelerating our next rental car – another Nissan Tiida. Once again Omega Rental Cars was easygoing – we could pick up a car that afternoon. That enabled us to drive to 12-mile Delta, a DOC campsite a ways out of town and pitch our tent for a couple nights for $80. Whew! So much better than $600, and we liked the view over Lake Wakatipu.

We got our first real taste of Queenstown after our return from Doubtful Sound on the bus. We had received a recommendation from other travelers for Fergburger. Charlotte told us James had a separate “Fergburger budget” since he craved their food, but to expect the line to be long!

The review was spot-on. A lengthy line stretched out of the building – employees from nearby businesses had to repeatedly request queue members to keep their doorways clear! But, the place had their processes down, and plenty of employees, so the line moved along.

The Fergburgers were huge and juicy. They lived up to the hype.

In fact, the burgers were so good we went back for a second round after our Routeburn hike!

As the sun set we watched a busker performing at the waterfront. His straightjacket escape was similar to the one I’d assisted with in Invercargill, but no unicycle. Did they study together at Street Magicians R Us?!

We came back to Queenstown the next day and soaked up the adventure vibe, but only as spectators.

Our adventure would come several days later in the form of a helicopter flight and hike on Franz Josef Glacier.

Our reward for booking the excursion was “free” tickets to the original Queenstown ice bar…with one-drink minimum. No worries, the choices were super tasty and there were virgin versions for the girls.

As afternoon customers the place wasn’t crowded! Just the four of us and one other group of three from Auckland. Todd especially enjoyed talking to tow truck driver Vern, and we embraced the typical tourist outing and the fun photo opps.

Ice hockey, of course!

Back outside we found street art and galleries, a war memorial, and a slackline area in the park.

We strolled through Queenstown Gardens a couple times…

Todd loves these giant redwoods (we saw a variety of big U.S. trees in Wellington’s Botanic Garden, too).

I was enamored of this combination of natural and created art, an eye-catching way to support this big tree branch.

We have yet to see a game of New Zealand’s outdoor lawn bowls in progress, but have had it explained as being something like curling, where the players earn points by throwing their “bowls” (balls) up the green so that they land closest to a small target ball called a “Jack.” Anyway, Queenstown Gardens had a nice setup. I would call it a court or a field, but apparently it’s officially called a rink.

Our last stop through Queenstown, was a suburban shopping spree where Todd & I replaced our tent for $79 at Kmart – just $55 in U.S. dollars to upgrade to a 5 person model with a vestibule!

While we resupplied for more camping, the girls went out for their own excursion on mountain bikes. They covered about 50km and beat us back to the downtown. Then we said our final goodbye to Queenstown and set out towards Franz Josef Glacier!

Quintessential New Zealand – the silver fern, Queenstown’s sculpture version in bronze.