Pinewood Queenstown

Our journey to Queenstown was not such a pleasant one as the sky was overcast and we were peppered with intermittent showers - this was not helped by the fact that the driver's side windscreen wiper decided to give up the ghost and tear itself away from the main body! Approaching the 'Adventure Central' that is Queenstown, we got some good views over Lake Wakatipu and across to 'The Remarkables' - a rugged mountain range dominating the landscape surrounding the town and also where many of the...

The magic bus was not set to roll through Wanaka until 2pm, so I spent the morning relaxing at the Purple Cow. Reading in the sun with a cooling breeze coming down from the snowfields of Mt. Aspriring and across Lake Wanaka time seems to float on by. I'd be lying if I told you that there weren't times during a trip of this length when things may seem a bit boring, but what are the alternatives, what else would I be doing? I'd much rather feel bored by an alpine lake in the middle of a New Zea...

My bus for the Milford Sound left the Pinewood Resort at 8:00. We wove around town to various hostels and hotels, eventually filling the bus with daytrippers (not the Beatles' kind). The Milford Sound is not all that far from Queenstown, as the crow flies, however jagged peaks, retreating glaciers and Lake Wakatipu all stand in the way. Thus the actual drive to the Sound takes almost five hours. The journey took us through the small town of Te Anau, where I'll be disembarking on the way back ...

Arrived safely from Australia having had to go through a rigorous process to get in. They are so strict I had to have my boots washed because I said I had been on a farm!! Oh well that over Scenic Circle Airdale Hotel made up for it as I was double-booked into one room they gave me a suite instead - bargain. Picked up early on day one of my 21 day New Zealand Tour of North and South Islands. Its a bit drizzling but its not cold. North Island Day 1 - Auckland to Bay of Islands. Going to Bay of...

The drive from Dunedin was our first long drive in Shakira, a Toyota Corolla, and it sure beat taking the bus or even worse the Kiwi Experience, which whever we passed the slumbering occupants of the "Big Green **** Bus" as it is known by the locals, we happily displayed our contempt. In total it took about 5 hours to get to Queenstown, but we had a few scenic stop offs, including a drink in the South's Friendliest Pub. We arrived in Queenstown about 6pm, Neil making a nice little bump on Sha...

Milford Sound is in the fairly inaccessible and, normally, incredibly wet region of New Zealand called the Fiordlands. It receives 6 meters of rain a year on average, London receives 753mm, I have heard it is the 4th wettest place in the world. This was surprising as me and Neil cruised along through brilliant sunshine, and picture perfect scenery as we made our way along through the forests, and along the windy mountain roads, usual gasping in awe every 20 minutes. We were half expecting to ...

We had no huge plans for today so I slept. I slept until about 11 am and it felt wonderful. When I awoke we all walked down into Queenstown. We are staying in the Pinewood Lodge Backpackers Hostel which is near the edge of town right up by the base of a mountain. We pretty much spent the day having a look around Queenstown. It reminded me of a small mountain town in Colorado. Actually, it is sort of a mix between Park City, Utah and Salida, Colorado. Queenstown is in a small valley, it smells...

Tuesday 8th July We woke early again and managed to do breakfast before departing for Queenstown at some ungodly hour, but we're in NZ so I can do early mornings :). The journey to Queenstown took 11 hours in total but we stopped off at Wanaka to do some sight seeing (See photos of lake Matheson and a waterfall) and also stopped off at a bridge for Bungy jumping, which neither me or Christina plucked up the courage to do but 3 people on our coach decided to do it. $160 to chuck yourself off a...

Queenstown is really beautiful. It's on a lake and surrounded by mountains, there's a very 'alpine' feel to the place, if there's such of a thing! We stayed at Pinewood, $20 NZ a night. Cheap - as! Pinewood is made up of units, each one with a kitchen, lounge room and about three bedrooms. There were two Irish girl in our unit, really sound. We all really liked it there, it was like being back in college again! The first evening, myself and Michael took the Gondola up the mountain. Great view...

Back to Queenstown for another two nights and we got the same unit at Pinewood we had stayed in previously. One Irish girl was still there so we had good fun catching up with her. The following day we took a trip in the car to Moke Lake which was amazing. It's in the middle of nowhere, lots of sheep around! In the afternoon we did a hike on the Queenstown Trail. It brings you to the top of a mountain and you get a good view over the town. We had a big dinner that night! The next day we left Q...