Queenstown-Day 3 Go Ahead NZ Untamed Landscapes #goahead #newzealand
Traveler's Log November 19, 2016
Queenstown, New Zealand.
Still groggy from the overnight flight (and crossing the International Date Line) we slowly make our way through Immigration and Customs. We've declared that we have hiking boots and mine were worn within the month hiking around Weathersfield, Vermont, USA-still a little muddy so this really nice customs officer takes them away and returns them perfectly clean! New Zealand is isolated and they are really cautious about introducing ANYTHING to their island nation. I'm totally cool with this and 100% all for it.
We're ready for our domestic flight from Auckland to Queenstown at 9:30 a.m..
Our plane lands at Queenstown Airport and we collect our bags. The cab takes us to our hotel-The Rees Hotel and Luxury Apartments, just outside of town. Our driver explains that the traffic is crazy today because it's the Queenstown Marathon and thousands of people from all over the world are in town to run it. Over 10,000 will be running through The Remarkables (the mountain range around Queenstown), and the town looks like a bustling city.
Our room isn't quite ready (we're pretty early for check-in) so we hop the hotel town shuttle to check out this town/city on the banks of Lake Wakatipu. Jay read about a cool brew pub on the waterfront and we set out looking for it.
In addition to the marathon, it's market Saturday and the waterfront is filled with people enjoying the beautiful spring day; folks selling everything from hides to pottery; musicians and street entertainers keeping the crowd happy and a general feeling of comfortable weekend buzz.
We find the Atlas Beer Cafe in kind of an open air mall and grab some food, beer and people watching.
The Atlas Beer Cafe has some really great beers on draft and their food was top notch-no way near the pub food I expected.
Jay tried the Altitude Moontrack Stout. For food I had the Crispy Squid Salad and Jay tried the Club. Both meals were excellent!
Back on the free shuttle to our hotel, The Rees Hotel and Luxury Apartments and we make our way to our room. OMG this is the BEST room we've ever stayed in. Gorgeous views, comfortable spacious space and super nice staff.
Our Go Ahead Tour Guide, Erica Froggatt rings us up in the afternoon to see how we are and let's us know that dinner is set for 6 p.m..
We meet the rest of our group and enjoy a lovely meal before finally crashing.
Tomorrow, Sunday we drive to the West Coast of the South Island for a cruise around Milford Sound.
But is it really a Sound? Fiordland
More images from our time Saturday in Queenstown: Click Here
Day 1 and 2-Travel Days to New Zealand
Day 3 Queenstown
Day 4 Milford Sound
Day 5 Queenstown
Day 6 Fox Glacier
Day 7 Hokitika
Day 8 Nelson
Day 9 Nelson, Abel Tasman Park
Day 10 Wellington
Day 11 Wellington
Day 12 Rotorua
Day 13 Rotorua
Day 14 Auckland
Day 15 Auckland and departure
And off we go!
Kia Ora
