For those who are on a tight schedule Queenstown is the one
place many are planning to spend a longer time in. Anyone I know who has been to NZ before as
raved about Queenstown so my expectations about my time there were very
high. Getting in the first night I
arrived at my hostel (apparently rated number one hostel in Australasia last
year) and was escorted to my room and shown the facilities. Yes to all you “Wick” people reading this – I
was roomed at a hostel! Now I know not
everyone was roomed (probably only 45% were) but I was certainly not expecting
it. A big industrious hostel it was and
a buzz with the Queenstown party vibe (I would have loved this when I was 19
but although fun for a night it was not exactly my scene). I wandered around the town for the first
night then settled in for the night chatting with the many people who
gravitated to my dorm. Since it was
raining the day I arrived I didn’t explore much of the town so the next day I
spent wandering around. Queenstown is
really not very big but it does have tons of little shops and cafes. I found that although there are loads of
activities you can do in Queenstown it didn’t feel as pushed on you as other
places like Rotorua. The main streets
were alternating between tour operators and souvenir shops but it was fairly
easy to avoid being pulled into the overly commercial side by simply not
entering the stores. In Rotorua I felt
there were people out everywhere advertising loudly the activities you could do
along with large signs every few meters of tourist attractions. Queenstown itself in this sense was more my
style. I indulged in a lavender hot
chocolate in a harbor view café and spent the afternoon using their free
wifi. By early evening I finally caught
up with the ladies I had met in Greymouth at the brewery tour and we went out
for drinks and dinner. What a nice
evening of making our way from place to place around town, good company, good
pizza and good wine. After heading back
to my dorm I discovered around 20 people on my balcony and more scattered
throughout my room. It was about 11:30pm
by now and they were all heading out to the bar. I decided to join them and we went to the
seemingly only nightclub according to the long term residents of my room and
danced for hours.
The next few days were spent wandering around with every
corner revealing a new treasure (lounging areas by the lake, the mountain range
in the background, and numerous secluded parks everywhere I looked). There was a summer festival, market and live
music on the harbor so I wandered through and took in the show. For lunch one day I headed to the infamous “Fergburger”
and although I waited until 2pm in hopes it wouldn’t be too busy I still was
told there would be a 30 min wait after ordering it. This place is uber busy and it is not like
they need to have longer hours as they are open daily from 9AM all the way
through until 5AM so they are almost never closed. The wait was worth it though – I didn’t order
fries as I heard many people don’t even touch them since the burgers are so
big. Big and filling I had the Southern
Swine – mmm mmm good. If I go back there
I want to try the Thai Burger. At one
point I was hoping to organize a trip to Milford Sound since this was not
included in my bus pass. Every tour
operator in Queenstown markets their slightly better trip than the next guy to
Milford. After hearing the day trip was
quite an exhausting day and almost to the point it was not enjoyable I was
intrigued by the overnight cruise option.
Yes it was pricy but this is one of the wonders of the modern world and
a heritage sight. I wanted to do it
right. Unfortunately the trips were full
by the time had inquired about booking and I no longer wanted to half do
Milford with a day trip so I decided I would skip it for now and return in
April. At that point it should be more
enjoyable and less crowded. So no
Milford for me this time around – it’s all good – just gives me something to
look forward to later! The final day I
explored along the lake and walked to the nearby town of Frankton. It was an hour and a half stroll along the
water with view of the Remarkables Mountain Range on a nice sunny morning. Ahh how relaxing!!
The four nights I stayed in Queenstown were sleepless. Now I understand it is a party town but I do
like to be able crawl into bed before 3am and get a good night sleep (on at
least one of the nights). Next time I
will book a smaller hostel out of the main area. I took a bit of an unintentional break from
my camera in Queenstown. The only shots
I have are on the final night as the sun was setting. For some reason I never seemed to have my
camera on me during most of my outings.
Not a total loss when it all comes down to it (there are plenty of
pictures of Queenstown on the internet already for anyone who wants to see what
it is like). In the end a picture will
never do the scenery the justice it deserves as it is one of those places that
are surreal and seemingly more like a painting or backdrop than reality. Overall I really enjoyed my time in
Queenstown but really noticed the difference the people you surround yourself
with can change the experience. Believe
the hype = Queenstown is FAB!
