And let me tell you something, THAT iconic and cinematic backdrop is even more spectacular when you see it with the naked eye.
Stunning. It's just RIDICULOUS. That range of mountains that you can see are called the Remarkables and they are surrounded by all these pretty meandering coves of Lake Wakatipu. It's just visually breathtaking and I wish I had made the effort to go up at night and get the night shot. As usual, laziness prevailed! LOL!
So the bus trip to Queenstown was one of the longer bus trips I took, so I wasn't really looking forward to it. When I was waiting for the bus, this Swedish started talking to me. Perfectly nice guy, but you know when you just can't be arsed having THAT conversation again? Where are from? How long have you been in NZ? Blah, blah, blah. I managed to escape him on the bus but he caught up with me when we arrived and when he suggested having dinner together, I just didn't have the heart to say no.
I spent the next day sightseeing with another girl in my hostel who came and asked to hang out together. Straight outta high school, she had never been anywhere by herself and her youthfulness and inexperience was just truly endearing! Awwwww..... The weather was GORGEOUS - perfectly sunny, hot and clear and we hit up the gondola for the spectacular views and to ride the luge. Wicked fun.
Queenstown is the adventure capital of NZ. You can do anything here - skydive, bungy, canyoning, white water rafting, off road biking, anything. The problem is, it costs a bomb to do any of that stuff so I settled for some good old fashioned walking and a day trip to Milford Sound. I did go to NZ with the intention of doing a skydive, but not in Queenstown. I was saving that experience for Taupo in the North - one of the skydiving capitals of the world.
Queentown was all about my trip to Milford Sound. I will never thank my friend enough for ordering me to go there!
Milford Sound is often called the Eighth Wonder of the World and it's not difficult to see why. Part of the World Heritage Site of Fiordland National Park, the area is raw wilderness with jagged, mountainous forested zones , broken up by deep sounds. The Milford Track is a 4 day 53.5km hike and is described as one of the world's best walks. Of course, the track was never on the cards for me given my time restrictions, but I did get to drive along the Te Anau-Milford Highway which is 119km long and gives you the most incredible views of this insane scenery which means that you just never stop snapping on the camera.
This area of NZ is the wettest. Naturally, everyone wants THAT perfect postcard picture, but apparently even in the summer, there is just the most ridiculous amount of rain. And when I say ridiculous, I mean it - 7 METRES A YEAR!!!!! It was no exception when I went, (in fact 2012 had been wetter than most) but I didn't get caught in it until I was on the cruise going through Milford Sound. The crappy thing about the rain was that I'm still mastering my camera settings and I haven't worked out how to take decent pictures in grey and gloomy conditions so I'm gutted that I haven't done them justice. I was glad I went when I did though, because just 2 days later, the whole area of the Milford Track was flooded and trampers had to be airlifted out of the park.
When we got to Milford Sound and were about to get on the boat for the cruise I was rooted to the spot at the first sight of it. So insanely stunning and breathtaking - the water was completely still and super dark and then there were these mammothly sheer rocky cliffs covered in forest protuding out the water.
I was gobsmacked - I mean, there is no where else in the world like it. And of course I was super excited as it was on the locations for the LOTR movies. Isn't it amazing?! We didn't see any dolphins, but there were seals resting out on the rocks. I kept trying to keep everyone's words in my head "Milford Sound is better when it rains". It's not a lie - the waterfalls were spectacular - I'm just gutted with the quality of my pictures. The whole experience was truly magical and even now when I look at my pics, I can't believe that I was there and I feel so lucky and so happy that I decided to go.
There will be a whole album of Milford Sound so keep an eye out for it on FB.
I spent my last night in Queenstown staying in a luxury 5* hotel.....for no other reason than there was no where else available! Not that I was complaining - after spending the last few nights in a hostel, I was looking forward to a decent night's sleep with my own bathroom and without having to worry about anyone else. I was knackered after Milford Sound and spent the day relaxing. I headed out to the infamous "Fergburger" which is allegedly NZ's best hamburger. I had to wait 30 minutes for it and it was pretty damn good! Stuffed and unable to move, I went back to the hotel for a nap before heading out in the evening with some guys that I had met a couple of nights before. So much for my good night's sleep - I didn't go to bed until 5am and was up just 3 hours later. What a waste of a comfy bed! It was funny though, becasue Queenstown was exactly half way through my trip and it's amazing how quickly 9 days can pass when you are surrounded by such magnificent beauty.
Check out the pics on FB if you haven't already. Hope you'll enjoy the ones to come!
xoxo
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