Queenstown

Queenstown.

We drove through Middle Earth and ended up in the adventure capitol of the world. We chose to stay in a 3 bedroom apartment at the Rees. Very nice. Here was our view:

Our living room:

More views from our room:

Amazing. Queenstown sits on a very large lake, Lake Wakatipu and is situated on the Remarkables mountain range. Gold was found in the Shotover River in the 1860's and the town boomed. Today it caters to people seeking thrills: bungy jumping, jet-boating, parachuting, white water rafting..... you name it!

I was pleasantly surprised at how quaint and charming the town really is and how beautiful the surrounding area is.

One day we did the Queesntown Skyline Gondola to the top of Bob's Peak, 1425 ft. above the lake. Here are views from that:

At the top, we watched crazy people doing bungy and we got crazy and did the luge. This luge is very similar to the luge in Singapore, but we all agreed that the Queesntown luge was more fun as it took you through some dips and tunnels. Good times!:

More views:

Up Next: Sights from Queenstown.

Journey to Queenstown

After 2 nights in Glacier country, we packed up and did our long drive to Queenstown. The drive was about 5.5 hours, but it was beautiful winding roads through mountains and lakes that stretched on forever.

Here is a shot from a side of the road stop:

One hour outside of Queenstown, we stopped in Wanaka to hit Puzzling World. This is a cute little house/tourist attraction that was fun for the kids:

The forced perspective room.:

In this room, the floor was pitched at a 40 degree angle but the ceilings and walls were built in concert with the floor...so balls rolled up hill and water flowed up as well. It completely throws you off! :

Outside and connected to the building is a large maze. Takes about an hour to go through. Yes, we did it. :

After Puzzling World, we drove the last hour into Queenstown. Here are some sights as we got closer to town. Looked more and more like "Middle Earth"!:

Up Next: Three nights in Queenstown!

Franz Josef Glacier Walk

What's that Whirring?

A helicopter!

I've neglected to take good photos of our 2 bedroom villa at Glen Fern Villas in Franz Josef. They were comfy and lovely and had a mountain backdrop. A very nice spot for 2 nights.

We woke up on a windy and threatening day. We weren't even sure our helicopter tour would be a go, but we checked in and found out the pilot still wanted to fly. Okay with us!

John and I sat in front with Jules, the pilot. Strapped in and off we went! I've always wanted to fly in a helicopter and it didn't disappoint. As a matter of fact, because of the windy day, it was quite the experience! Jules flew us up the massive Franz Josef glacier to the mountain tops above it. We followed the mountain ridge line over to the Fox glacier and flew down that. We were supposed to fly around Mt. Cook, which we had a clear and spectacular view of, but the buffeting winds and my immense fear kept us from trying. I simply was terrified! I was fine until the winds on top of the mountain line bumped us around a bit. Jules later said it was a bit too choppy even for his comfort. Yikes!

Here are some photos:

The Helicopter:

John and me in the front. He wasn't excited or anything.:

We landed on the Fox Glacier and piled out for some fun in the snow. Words can't describe the enormity of the glaciers or the colors you see. It's unforgettable.

Can you see the blue?

We were above the clouds:

On top of Fox Glacier landing area. Two other helicopters landed after us:

Again, this was an experience of a lifetime. Terrifying, beautiful, exhilarating. The photos and my words can't bring to life what we were able to live. We are lucky.

Up Next: Glacier walk

Trans Alpine Day across New Zealand

This was one of our bigger travel days. We boarded the TranzAlpine train in Christchurch, which ranks as one of the world's great rail journeys. It crosses the Southern Alps between Christchurch and Greymouth, winding through snow covered mountains and stunning blue rivers.

Boarding the train:

This was John's first official train ride. He was excited. This is the boy who loved Thomas the Tank Engine for many years. I booked this trip especially for him:

Here are our photos along the way. They are not in order. We went from the plains of Canterbury to the mountains and rain forest of the west coast. It was a four hour ride; I lost count after 7 tunnels:

A bridge we crossed:

More blue:

We arrived safely in Greymouth and picked up our rental van there. Then we began our drive south to Franz Josef. We made one stop on the way, a little place called Shantytown. It is an old gold mining town. The boys were able to pan for gold and we enjoyed ice cream and the recreated town/museum with artifacts from the gold mining days.

One of the real original buildings:

Some fun photo opportunities:

Our favorite:

And the most interesting to us... a windmill made in Freeport, Illinois! How odd that in a teeny tiny podunk, middle of nowhere New Zealand, there is a windmill from Illinois. So for my friend, Karla:

After the stop, we drove the 2 hours to Franz Josef.

Up Next: 2 nights in Franz Josef. What's that whirring?