We got to the airport with no troubles – loaded up the car with gas, dropped it off and then headed in to get ourselves ready. We were way early. The airport and the terminals for the domestic flights were so small that I think you could have been able to get there about 45 min before take-off and get through security and everything else with no problems.
We got some postcards to mail out and we sat and had some tea and coffee and made sure to use the bathroom. For some bizarre reason there were no bathrooms on the floor where the gates were. Not sure why but whatever. We got on and they announced that we had to wait for a few minutes. There was a problem with the bags. About 10 minutes later they announced that there was an extra bag and until they figured out the manifest we couldn’t go. Another 5-10 minutes later and we were off. This was better than expected since it had been raining and we were just happy we got off the ground. The flight was relatively uneventful until I looked out the window – the mountains were amazing. There were tons of small isolated lakes and snow capped peaks that went on for as far as you can see. The approach in to the airport was easily the best into any city we have ever been to. Queenstown is right on a lake and it’s circular like a bay and surrounded by snow capped mountains on all sides. The water was a blue-green and it really was just one of the best approaches ever.
We got to the rental car counter and were deciding if we should get the extra insurance or not. The guy made up our mind for us when he said that insurance was not mandatory in New Zealand. Yes, you heard me. You don’t have to have insurance here. While I was not worried that we would have a problem, we got the extra anyway, just in case. How can you not have insurance? Crazy.
When we got to the car, the battery on the remote was dead so I packed the car and Jess went in to see if she could get something else out of them. She got turned down – they told her they were sorry but the spare was in Christchurch.
The road to the lodge was beautiful and we stopped at Hayes Lake for pictures. We arrived in Arrowtown – a gold mining town that sprung up overnight in 1862 with the discovery of gold in the Arrow River. Many of the town’s buildings are original so it is like a spruced up old west town. It’s real small and as we would find out – cooler than Queenstown. After settling in we decided to hike up Feehly Hill to find a geocache and enjoy the views.
The trail started to get a little tight and steep and Jess decided that she had had enough – I had to find the cache and I had to get to the top. The rest of the way wasn’t too bad but finding the cache was a little more difficult – there were a bunch of trails up there and it was tough finding the right one but I eventually did and made the find. I headed back down and met Jess in the cemetery below. We headed back to the hostel but stopped at the Chinese Village. It was the spot where the Chinese goldminers lived and a bunch of the buildings were still there. The roofs were refurbished but otherwise the stone buildings were intact. The door openings were really small – perfect size for Jess. I couldn’t get the lyrics to that stupid song out of my head – but of course changes the lyrics to “Chickety-China-the Chinese Village”.
We stopped at the supermarket to get food for dinner – and I left bread in the cart in the parking lot. We made dinner and hung out with British couple who had been living and traveling there for a few months and a Spanish guy who believed that when Europeans crawl up your ass when you’re in line for something that that was normal and maybe we were the ones who had the problem. He was very opinionated but Jess invited him in to the conversation thus asking for his opinions. Otherwise he was pretty funny. We bs’d about where we’d been in Europe (he was actually impressed that we had been other places besides the usual tourist cities) and what people’s plans were. It seems almost normal for people to take a lot of time off and travel before they decide to become adults. It’s probably a good idea and I think I would have like to have done that rather than go right to work – not like I had much of an option but it would have been pretty cool.
We got some postcards to mail out and we sat and had some tea and coffee and made sure to use the bathroom. For some bizarre reason there were no bathrooms on the floor where the gates were. Not sure why but whatever. We got on and they announced that we had to wait for a few minutes. There was a problem with the bags. About 10 minutes later they announced that there was an extra bag and until they figured out the manifest we couldn’t go. Another 5-10 minutes later and we were off. This was better than expected since it had been raining and we were just happy we got off the ground. The flight was relatively uneventful until I looked out the window – the mountains were amazing. There were tons of small isolated lakes and snow capped peaks that went on for as far as you can see. The approach in to the airport was easily the best into any city we have ever been to. Queenstown is right on a lake and it’s circular like a bay and surrounded by snow capped mountains on all sides. The water was a blue-green and it really was just one of the best approaches ever.
We got to the rental car counter and were deciding if we should get the extra insurance or not. The guy made up our mind for us when he said that insurance was not mandatory in New Zealand. Yes, you heard me. You don’t have to have insurance here. While I was not worried that we would have a problem, we got the extra anyway, just in case. How can you not have insurance? Crazy.
When we got to the car, the battery on the remote was dead so I packed the car and Jess went in to see if she could get something else out of them. She got turned down – they told her they were sorry but the spare was in Christchurch.
The road to the lodge was beautiful and we stopped at Hayes Lake for pictures. We arrived in Arrowtown – a gold mining town that sprung up overnight in 1862 with the discovery of gold in the Arrow River. Many of the town’s buildings are original so it is like a spruced up old west town. It’s real small and as we would find out – cooler than Queenstown. After settling in we decided to hike up Feehly Hill to find a geocache and enjoy the views.
The trail started to get a little tight and steep and Jess decided that she had had enough – I had to find the cache and I had to get to the top. The rest of the way wasn’t too bad but finding the cache was a little more difficult – there were a bunch of trails up there and it was tough finding the right one but I eventually did and made the find. I headed back down and met Jess in the cemetery below. We headed back to the hostel but stopped at the Chinese Village. It was the spot where the Chinese goldminers lived and a bunch of the buildings were still there. The roofs were refurbished but otherwise the stone buildings were intact. The door openings were really small – perfect size for Jess. I couldn’t get the lyrics to that stupid song out of my head – but of course changes the lyrics to “Chickety-China-the Chinese Village”.
We stopped at the supermarket to get food for dinner – and I left bread in the cart in the parking lot. We made dinner and hung out with British couple who had been living and traveling there for a few months and a Spanish guy who believed that when Europeans crawl up your ass when you’re in line for something that that was normal and maybe we were the ones who had the problem. He was very opinionated but Jess invited him in to the conversation thus asking for his opinions. Otherwise he was pretty funny. We bs’d about where we’d been in Europe (he was actually impressed that we had been other places besides the usual tourist cities) and what people’s plans were. It seems almost normal for people to take a lot of time off and travel before they decide to become adults. It’s probably a good idea and I think I would have like to have done that rather than go right to work – not like I had much of an option but it would have been pretty cool.
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