When we first arrived in Queenstown, we took the Skyline Gondola up to the restaurant for a wonderful meal and spectacular views of the town and Lake Wakatipu. Not far from our lookout point, there was a bungy jumping area. There is also a bridge outside of Queenstown where the first bungy jumping ever took place. After dinner, we walked around the small town, an area so friendly and compact that even walking alone at night would not feel uncomfortable.
The following morning we climbed back onto our bus to travel 307 km through rugged but captivating nature to Milford Sound. Unfortunately, on arrival it was drizzly and foggy for our cruise of the fjords. The area is considered to be the wettest inhabited place in all of New Zealand. But we enjoyed our lunch and what scenery we could see, particularly the magnificent waterfalls cascading down sheer, rocky cliffs. Lady Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls are the biggest and most permanent of the waterfalls but after a rainfall hundreds of other waterfalls can be seen cascading down the steep cliffs. Some waterfalls are as high as 1,000 metres. Surrounded by staggering rock faces rising 3,900 feet or more (The Elephant Peak is 4,977 feet), Milford Sound runs 15 km inland from the Tasman Sea.
The fjords, in Fjordland National Park, weren't discovered until about 1812 by European explorers. Before that it was well-known only to the Maori people. There are only 120 people who actually live in the Milford Sound area at this time, mostly those involved in the tourism industry.
Another trip out of Queenstown was on the TSS Earnslaw, a one hundred year old coal fired steamer. After travelling on Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak Station, we enjoyed a delicious dinner and then headed outside to watch the sheep dog round up a group of wayward wanderers. From there we went to view the deer farming portion of the farm. Some of the male deer population still proudly displayed their rack of antlers. From there we went to the barn to watch as one very large sheep was being sheared. And then it was time to cruise back to Queenstown under slowly darkening skies and to the accompaniment of a piano player and some robust singers.
The following day some of us took a safari to many of the locations where Lord of the Rings was filmed. Queenstown, over the years, has been the location for many television and film productions. On the safari, travelling in Land Rovers, we drove through rivers and along narrow, windy mountain roads to the top of peaks where the views were amazing. Much of what we saw could almost rival the beauty of the Grand Canyon, in my opinion. At one point we stopped to do some gold panning.
Queenstown, surrounded by picturesque mountains and a crystal-clear lake, holds you close to its heart and makes leaving difficult. But all too soon it was time to return to Christchurch and begin our homeward journey.
On our way back, we stopped at Arrowtown, an historic gold mining town of the 1800's. At that time there were as many as 7,000 people in the small village. As of 2006, the count was about 2,150 people in residence. Many of the buildings in this quaint village are well-preserved. Following that we crossed the Kawarau River, eventually arriving in Mt. Cook National Park where we were going to be spending the night. Unfortunately, here again the weather was drizzly and foggy so Mt. Cook was lost in the clouds making visibility virtually impossible.
The rest of our drive back to Christchurch was through New Zealand's typically magnificent landscape, and although it was a little on the soggy side, it was still beautiful. We spent our last evening in Christchurch having dinner on the grounds of the Dean family home, the first European settlers in the area. We ate in an outsized tent as their beautiful home was one of the many damaged in the earthquake.
Sadly, the following morning it was time to wave goodbye to New Zealand and the wonderful time we had, as we boarded our plane to begin the first leg of our journey back home.
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