Overall impression of Queenstown is it's a really nice place at times but can be rowdy at night, has too many 'ski bums' and backpackers looking to jump off anything that stands still and a vast array of things to do which will rapidly empty your wallet - it's all very friendly though!
Day 1 - weather was ropey with wind, heavy cloud, rain and some sleet. We had been advised to visit Glenorchy, 45km up Lake Wakatipu, as it's beautiful. Of course, with such poor conditions it wasn't! Therefore headed the other side to Arrowtown to see if we could find the odd bit of gold lying around. It's on the Shotover river, one of the richest gold producing rivers in history apparently, but to no avail. Instead the only gold to be found was the beer and pie crust at the small Arrowtown Brewery. Pie was excellent, beer good. Arrowtown is really quaint with a lot of commercialised bits and some good history. Good for a visit.
We then headed back and dissolved the credit card at the i-site booking trips.
Dinner at the lovely Bella Cucina across from our backpackers.
Day 2 - man it was early. Collection from the information centre at 0
7:30am. Bussed off back to Glenorchy again by Jenny and Lisa who were our guides for the day. We donned yet more fetching rubber wear in the form of a wet suit, floral fleece for J9 and little rubber booties. Cool it wasn't in either temperature or look. That did change though when we got on the jet boat and were spirited another 3okm up river. Again, as Queenstown is surrounded by mountains, this was an amazing trip with stunning views. Running through very shallow water, twists, turns and 360's was good fun. We passed Paradise (famous for Wolverine, Lord of the Rings, Narnia) and Isengard while on the Dart and were offloaded with some large rubber boats. These weren't inflated but we were told we needed to warm up so proceeded to inflate the large boats and warm up - all the 
time being eaten by Sand Flies! We were to coast and paddle the bulk of the way back down.
7:30am. Bussed off back to Glenorchy again by Jenny and Lisa who were our guides for the day. We donned yet more fetching rubber wear in the form of a wet suit, floral fleece for J9 and little rubber booties. Cool it wasn't in either temperature or look. That did change though when we got on the jet boat and were spirited another 3okm up river. Again, as Queenstown is surrounded by mountains, this was an amazing trip with stunning views. Running through very shallow water, twists, turns and 360's was good fun. We passed Paradise (famous for Wolverine, Lord of the Rings, Narnia) and Isengard while on the Dart and were offloaded with some large rubber boats. These weren't inflated but we were told we needed to warm up so proceeded to inflate the large boats and warm up - all the 
time being eaten by Sand Flies! We were to coast and paddle the bulk of the way back down.We had the usual steering difficulties - Sidney's fault again - but managed to ride the relatively placid blue clear waters. We stopped off for a lunch (for the sand flies mainly) and then were off again until we met a boat halfway down. The rest was a 4x4 bus through more 'movie scenery' - apparently K2 is also here for Vertical Limit.
We we back in time for a local institution - Fergburger - before heading to the memorial hall to watch John Brown's Body support the Black Seeds. The dub, funk, reggae (thanks geek Phil) was pretty cool though the clientelle were bigger fans, danced more and seemed to have consumed something which we didn't get on our room service menu!
Day 3 - well after a late night you need a lie in. We opened the curtains to a c
loudless sky and went to wait for our taxi. We were met by Matt our pilot who escorted us to our Piper Six 300 - apparently it started as a sea plane - we were pleased it was on wheels as take off could have been messy otherwise.
loudless sky and went to wait for our taxi. We were met by Matt our pilot who escorted us to our Piper Six 300 - apparently it started as a sea plane - we were pleased it was on wheels as take off could have been messy otherwise.We were heading for Milford sound - it's either a 12-hour day - 5hr coach, 1hr 3omin cruise, 5hr retrun coach or, you can fly! I didn't think Janine would be up for it but to be honest it's one of the best things we've done. The views of the snow covered sou
thern Alps were so breathtaking it's hard to describe. We took hundreds of photos - so we'll not bore you yet!
thern Alps were so breathtaking it's hard to describe. We took hundreds of photos - so we'll not bore you yet!The sound itself is a great place for me - dolphins, seals, penguins messing around, amazing ecology, fantastic geology and beautiful waterfalls. The only problem is the procession of boats - of which we were obviously on one - that circumnavigate it and the enormous visitor centre to accommodate those selling the tour tickets. It's a little disappointing but still an amazing place.
After a fabulous flight back and grass landing we had time to head back to town, get the gondola to the top of a big hill, get a ski lift up another bit and luge down - good fun.
So the end of a busy couple of days - amazing experience, stunning scenery and a lively town. Can get a bit much. We're not necessarily looking forward to the long journey back!
There'll be a more detailed update and some other musings if time allows.
See you soon!
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