Queenstown to Dunedin

Just driving into Queenstown we could tell we were going to like it. It is quite clearly a ski town and despite deeming going skiing ourselves to be too expensive, we still immediately loved to atmosphere around the place. The town is based on Lake Wakatipu and is one of New Zealand’s most well known towns despite being much smaller than the likes of Wellington and Auckland. It didn't take us long to come face-to-face with the reason it is famous as almost every shop we passed either offered jet boat rides, ski rental or a whole number of activities which involve throwing yourself off heights. Queensland is the adventure capital of New Zealand and we had opted a long time ago that the adrenaline rush we were going to go for was the Shotover Jet, however that would have to wait as we arrived late in the day.

The Mountains over Queenstown

Our first stop took us to the I-Site as, among the usual questions, we needed to find Linz a dentist as a tooth of hers had been causing her trouble for quite a while. We had come across I-Site staff in the past who have been a little short, but this lady didn't even speak to start with. In answer to our dentist question she took a map, marked on some dots and ended with “Anything else?” I contemplated asking if she could also mark on the map someone who actually cared about their job but instead we asked our remaining questions and left only to immediately enter another information place across the road. They were considerably more helpful and, despite getting very similar information, we left feeling much happier. The lady who had served us this time around was Irish and had returned to Queenstown having loved it so much during her travels. She is not the only one to have this idea, as I genuinely think we came across more foreigners than Kiwis working in town.

We set off in search of a dentist for Linz but realising it was the weekend and they were all shut we opted for a sweetshop. Probably not the wisest choice. Having left with a block of fudge and a massive chocolate heart covered in sprinkles we returned to the van. We had researched a cheap DOC sight just outside town, as freedom camping was once again not allowed, and would go there later so we didn't need to worry about checking into somewhere before campsites closed. Instead we headed to Fat Badger pizza so we could spend the evening Skyping home.

Our first day in Queenstown had been great despite having only wandered round the town on foot, and I had had an excellent Skype session with home and James, however the night was about to go horribly downhill. Well, in fact it was the evening going so uphill that caused the problem. By now it was around midnight and we were heading out of town in search of the DOC sight when we turned off the main road and began to climb. We knew the site was 4km along this road however after 3km we reached a gate. It was open but it warned people that four wheel drive cars would only be suitable. For some reason I talked us into investigating, I assume because I thought how wrong can it go in 1km. It turned out it can go very wrong. The road became incredibly narrow with thick snow on either side of us, patches of ice on the track and a rather deadly drop to the left. After about 500m I conceded I had been horribly wrong but no had no choice, due to the narrow track, to reverse the entire way back to the paved road 500m away. This was by far the least pleasant part of our entire travels. At one point we became stuck in the snow but I managed to ease it out while Linz was unable to look as we were both rather nervous. Eventually, however we reached the paved road and were safe, at least to begin with. There was one more road available so we thought we’d try it out seeing as it was well maintained. It continued to climb higher and higher until the point once again where we threw in the towel and decided to head back down. This time a three point turn was required in a 7.2m long van on a road which was probably about 8m wide. Needless to say my three point turn was more like a three hundred point turn but we made it down the mountain and back to Queenstown. Once again the evening could have done without a possum running out in the road again. Stupid creatures.

We ended up finding a Top 10 park which allowed us to pull up for the night and pay in the morning. The next day we had been looking forward to a deserved lie in but now had to check out at 10am. At 9:30am I left Linz in bed and went to the reception where I brought out my best tired look, although I didn't need to put much of it on, and managed to score us a free late check out. We didn't re-emerge until almost midday.

Bombing it through the canyon

We would have stayed as long as possible but the activity we had been looking forward to for so long was upon us: the Shotover Jet. This involves boarding a jet boat which would rocket its passengers at frightening speeds through a canyon while getting perilously close to the edges for the entertainment of those onboard. I had last done it when I was three years old, I can’t remember if I liked it but no mention of the Shotover Jet goes passed without a family member mentioning the ruckus I kicked up as I was being made to wear a lifejacket.

A lot of gear considering we barely got splashed

We arrived in plenty of time as it was a first come first serve situation regarding seats and we wanted the front row. As we arrived so early they tried to convince us to go on the one earlier boat but we had a plan in place and weren’t going to stray from it. When our boat was ready for boarding we were kitted out in waterproofs and life-jackets, which I accepted calmly this time round, before we successfully claimed our front row. The jet boat is an amazing creation as it has an entirely flat hull allowing it to spin on the water like a skimming stone but astonishingly needs just 5cm of water to be able to do the stunts it does. After a few customary action photos being taken of all of us in the boat we shot off towards the canyon where, especially when in the front row, you get unbelievably close to the jagged rock walls. Every so often we would emerge into a clearing only to find our driver would throw us into a complete 360^o spin requiring everyone to force themselves into their seat or else risk flying out. I was a little sceptical that someone could actually fly out the boat but wasn’t prepared to risk it.

We were supposedly on the river for half an hour but it was so much fun it seemed like so much less. Having waited for so long to do it, it didn't disappoint and we were pleased to have done one of Queenstown’s most famous attractions.

Just up the road from the canyon we found a much cheaper campsite for that evening as there was no chance we were going in search of another DOC site. After booking for later on we headed back to the town centre and embarked on a walking tour of the town. Just in case the town couldn’t look any better we even found a man playing the piano out by the waterfront making sure it sounded as good as it could as well. Having wandered around the marina we visited the underwater viewing gallery to see what wonders the lake had to offer under the surface. It turned out there were some fish. We didn't anticipate the £2.50 entry fee to see a few trout, however, for an extra 50p you could push a button which released fish food into the lake so we thought we’d try and get a little more out of our time there.

Good duck banter

Despite the button being under a big “Feed the fish” sign this was quite clearly a feed the ducks machine as immediately the water was filled with these incredible metallic silver ducks which easily beat the fish to the food. The ducks are black above the water but as they dive they become an amazing silver colour making them look like metal sculptures and they could dive to the bottom of the lake with ease. This made the underwater viewing a little more entertaining and we left reasonably pleased.

Looking out across the lake

We had a walk up to Queenstown Gardens as fantastically they had laid out a Frisbee golf course. Frisbee golf is played like regular golf except you replace the bag of clubs with one Frisbee, or in the case of the locals we saw playing it, one Frisbee and a six pack of Speight’s. We didn't have time to play which was gutting but we had a restaurant booked fairly soon. As a birthday present my parents had bought us a meal at the restaurant on top of one of the mountains overlooking the town, which you can only reach via a gondola ride. To get to the gondola we wandered through some of the town’s back alleys to find that even these are clean and nice to walk don with bars and restaurants of their own. Is there any part of Queenstown that isn’t nice?

On the way up the gondola passing paragliders and a bungee jump

The gondola ride up the mountain offered some good views but off course the best came from the viewing deck at the summit. The sun had started to set so the snowy mountains were a slightly yellow colour rising above the lake before it. We first headed to the restaurant but realised we were there way before our sitting had began and had to hang around for over an hour at the top. This turned out to be easily worth it as, because we assume we were first there that evening, we were put in unquestionably the best table available. As we were lead towards this table I just kept having to think it’s not going to be ours, but then it was. The table was right in the corner of the massive dining room meaning both Linz and I had a window directly in front of us giving us unblocked views of the town, the lake and the mountains.

Just an amazing view

The dinner was an all-you-can-eat-buffet and seeing as we had been living off mainly pasta and sauces over the last two months we went to town on it. I had a bowl of tomato soup, three bread rolls, roast beef with potatoes, carrots, peas, pumpkin and parsnip mash, corn on the corb, gravy, venison rogan josh with jasmine rise, a crème brule, chocolate cake, tiramisu, chocolate chip muffin, strawberry jelly and a chocolate mousse. But it wasn't unhealthy as I had a Diet Coke.

I had been putting off having a roast dinner for this entire journey as I want to save it for returning home, but the roast beef was just too good to miss out on. I had also never had venison before or a rogan josh curry but the two together was a great way to try it out. Linz had a very similar banquet but replaced the curry with a second roast dinner, albeit a pork roast second time round. Neither of us have ever been anywhere near this full and I had serious concerns that the gondola ride back down may have buckled as we got onboard.

Coming back down to Queenstown at night

We were gutted to be leaving Queenstown the next morning but it had to be done as we still had a lot to see in the country. We had decided not to continue south towards Te Anau and Milford Sound but instead head across to the east coast town of Dunedin. On the way New Zealand demonstrated its ability to change landscapes incredibly quickly as we started in the snowy mountains of Queenstown before entering brown craggy mountains ranges before rolling green hills around Dunedin. Although I was still enjoying the music from our iPods, one entertainment highlight of the journey came from shouting at sheep to get a reaction. They got bored of me quite quickly.

Lunch down by Lake Dunstan

Our arrival in Dunedin brought us yet further parking trouble and we ended up having to fork out for a rather expensive car park as it was the only one we could find. At £1.50 per hour we didn't plan on staying long and made our customary trip to the I-Site followed by lunch at Subway. Having met them in Cairns and then again in Melbourne, we then met up with Clare and Andy and became a group of four for our time in Dunedin.

We were never going to find a cheap nights stay in town so the two-car convoy headed south out of town until we reached Brighton. This would be the most southern point we would ever reach on our travels. Having tried a couple of places we opted for a £3.50 a night place which was little more than a field with the owner’s house/caravan in it. Linz and Clare took the opportunity to down more wine together and we all swapped stories of our time on New Zealand.

The next morning we drove back towards Dunedin but headed first to the Otago Peninsular with the intention of spotting some penguins and visiting Lanarch Castle. The drive was once again amazing but this trip can only go down as a failure as we saw neither penguins nor a castle. The penguins could only been seen in the evening and the castle is cunningly positioned behind trees which you can only go beyond when you fork out the ridiculously high ticket price. Lanarch is the only castle in New Zealand meaning they owners effectively have a castle monopoly and consequently can rack the price up. Despite this we actually had a good morning as the route to the peninsular is a winding  road leading over spectacular green hills with a view back to Dunedin over the bay.

Heading out on the Otago Peninsular looking back towards Dunedin

Having convoyed back to town we utilised a rare free wifi zone in the town’s library and got some lunch at Velvet Burger. This was an excellent lunch leading me to question why there isn’t more mango relish in the world? The main reason for stopping at the library was so Clare and Andy could download a voucher for our next attraction: Cadbury World. Following an anniversary trip to the romantic city of Birmingham the year before, Linz and I had already been to the English version and given the prospect of money off the entry fee we were keen.

We were lead round the factory by an English guide who we all deemed a little odd but who Linz was thoroughly annoyed by. The rest of us were just a little put off by his slightly odd shout-in-your-face style but Linz was fuming because rather than just hand out free chocolate like in the UK factory, here you had to earn your sweets. Every so often he would quiz you on subjects like the percentage of cocoa butter in a Dairy Milk bar and only those who answer correctly got a rewarded. Linz doesn’t like having to work for chocolate but when the guide gave the two children on the tour free Easter eggs she was livid. The grand finale was us all being ushered into a disused milk silo which had been converted into a chocolate waterfall for entertaining visitors to good effect. We left, via the gift shop, pretty happy with the tour including Linz as we had eventually been given free samples without the need to answer any questions.

On board my Cadbury delivery truck

Rather than head back to Brighton for another cheap night we both chose to stay at a powered site in town. I realise that so far today we had only really been to a chocolate factory but I’m afraid it’s all about to get considerably less interesting to anyone reading this. That night consisted of two rounds of The Game of Life (rented from the reception) and a showing of the first Lord of the Rings film. There’s very little that can be added to that except it was a very enjoyable night and if my life turns out anything like it did in the game then i’m in for a good one.

The following day started with a sad goodbye to Clare and Andy who were now heading to Queenstown while we were planning to head north. Although we were both very pleased to have met the two of them, a lot of my sadness was coming from the fact that it was them rather than us who was heading to Queenstown.

Linz’s tooth still hadn’t relented and was still causing her pain so our first aim of the day was to find a dentist to take a look. Interestingly the best option was the dentistry department at the University of Otago and seeing as Linz would have a student working on her it was also the cheapest option. Linz has never been a fan of the dentist and the prospect of having someone not fully educated working in her mouth didn’t help. However, they were actually very good and Linz did really well to get through an hour and a half of drilling etc as they performed a root canal on her. We had initially planned to head north towards Mount Cook that day but Linz had had a stressful day at the dentistry department which had lasted much longer than we both thought, so we decided to have a relaxing evening in the van at the campsite we had stayed in the night before.

Only one sight was left for us to see in Dunedin before we moved on which was Baldwin Street. The street is almost no different to any other residential road in New Zealand except this one is the steepest street in the entire world giving it a spot in the Guinness Book of Records. Linz told me in a rather stern manner that I wasn’t to attempt to drive the campervan up this incredibly steep road, which I was rather disappointed by. However with hindsight, having walked up the road, if I had have attempted this then I would have probably ended up with quite a mess in my trousers. It was insanely steep for a road with houses on it. We were gutted to find out that we had missed the annual Jaffa Roll by just a few days, as each year thousands on Jaffa sweets (orange coated chocolate balls rather than Jaffa Cakes) are rolled down the street raising money for charity.

Stupidly steep street

From Baldwin Street we would drive north through the Waitaki District and then inland towards Mount Cook. Queenstown had been right up with our favourite places so far on this trip and Dunedin had been particularly fun as we had good people to spend the time with. However, we were back to just the two us now and only a few days left before our flight home, but of course New Zealand was never going to stop amazing us...