On Friday morning we started the six-hour drive to Queenstown (it’s a different place than Queensland, which is in Australia). We decided not to stay in Christchurch per the advice of many locals and backpackers who advised leaving because of the lack of jobs, places to live and the continuous presence of earthquakes. We chose to give Queenstown a try since we heard it was beautiful and because other backpackers said that there were jobs available because of all the tourists.
The busy seasons for Queenstown are the summer and winter. In the summer it’s home to incredible hiking, water sports, mountain biking, horseback riding and many crazy activities such as bungee jumping, cliff diving, rock climbing, white water rafting etc. Queenstown is known as the adrenaline capital of the country and is famous for being the home of the bungee jump. In the winter it attracts heaps of tourists because it’s right in the middle of three ski lodges.
After packing up the car we started off. Since there are not that many roads on the South Island, it wasn’t too hard finding our way. There aren’t really highways, per se, just two lane country roads which are occasionally blocked by herds of sheep or tractors. Sean drove the whole six hours as I was still a little nervous to try the whole “driving on the left” thing. Many had told us that the scenery on the way would be incredible and they were right – it was stunning.
Our route to Queenstown took us up into the mountains, over one-lane bridges, around crystal clear lakes and through mountain passes. There were signs that said “For experienced drivers only” and “Slow down – high crash rate” which are more than a little unnerving when one is already white-knuckled on the wheel from driving on the “wrong” side of the road in an old car that we weren’t familiar with at all.
Because all our station wagon had was a tape deck and a busted radio antenna, we spent the whole six hours just ogling the view. There were green rolling hills, snow topped mountains, tiny towns, and sheep – lots of them.
About 30 minutes out of Queenstown the mountains rose sharply and we could start to see all the lifts that led to the top. As we pulled into the city it became clear what all the fuss was about.
Queenstown is situated at the base of the mountains and wrapped around lake Wakapitu. It was beautiful and it felt like we were out West in the U.S. in a mountain town like Vail or Breckenridge. We had reservations for a week in a tent site at a backpackers hostel called Bumbles. After setting up camp, we simply sat back and enjoyed the view.
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