Our flight out of Auckland was a midday flight, so we relaxed in the morning (and caught up on blog writing) before making our way to the domestic airport. The terminal was bare-bones so it’s a good thing we didn’t arrive too early. Since Quantas does not service domestic New Zealand flights, we had to fly their affiliate JetStar. JetStar was a bit of a disappointment since it was being like flying domestically in the US…everything had an extra cost associated with it. Luckily the flight was less than 2 hours and we were quickly approaching Queenstown Airport.
The approach into Queenstown was one of the most dramatic landings I’ve witnessed since the town sits in a low valley between mountains. We were flying below the mountain peaks on both sides of the plane (in a small valley) for a while before finally landing. Other than the windiness making a choppy landing, it was an awesome ending to the flight.
Our view from the plane on the approach into Queenstown
After getting settled in at the hotel, it was time for a late lunch so we caught the bus into the town center. At the recommendation of the bus driver we dined at Fergberger, a gourmet burger takeaway that seemed to be the place to go…it was crowded. However, my cajun chicken burger was enormous and delicious and worth the wait to enjoy. With Susan still under the weather, the two of us and her parents stopped at the grocery to get snacks for Friday’s day-long excursion before heading back to the hotel. While she napped, Susan’s dad and I went for a nearly 2 hour hike up into the mountain behind the hotel. The hike followed a creek with some waterfalls that used to provide power to a generator at the bottom of the hill. It also criss-crossed some downhill mountain bike trails as it worked toward the city gondola at the top. We turned around before making it to the summit since we weren’t sure of how much daylight we had remaining, but it was a nice hike all told.
Waterfall along the hike (photo credit: Tom) 
View during the hike (photo credit: Tom)
Once back at the hotel, Susan and I headed into town to ride the gondola to the viewing deck with her parents. Jen and Darin had already been up earlier in the day so remained at the hotel. Most of the attractions at the top were closed, but the views were worth the ride. Once down at town level, we grabbed quick dinners (soup and gelato for me) before calling it a night.
Sunset from the overlook 
The gondala (with the in laws in tow) 
Us in the gondala (photo credit: Tom)
Friday started early, at sunrise, with a quick breakfast before boarding a bus for the full day excursion to the Fjordland National Park and a boat cruise through the Milford Sound (which is actually a fjord). The drive was in a plush new “bullet coach” specially designed for the tour company including seats angled toward the window, a body made of 55% glass (including roof panels), and a streamlined shape to cut through the wind. Luckily it was a comfortable ride since we’d spend a good 8 hours on the bus all told.
The morning trip took us around the south end of Lake Wakatipu and through some small towns before a coffee/bathroom stop at Te Anau. Most of the scenery through here was of lakes, mountains, and rolling farmlands where sheep, cows, and domesticated deer were being raised. After the break, we headed north into the national park which was much more rugged through dense evergreen forests, along a riverbed, then into the mountains surrounding the fjord and boat docks. There were a couple photo stops en route as well.
Trees inspiring ents from the LOTR (left); New Zealand Parrot (right) 
Cloudy mountains (photo credit: DPH) 
Deer farm (photo credit: DPH) 
Gone Fishin’ (photo credit: Tom)
We arrived at the Milford Sound “harbor” just in time to hop onto our ship for a 2 hour cruise of the fjord. This area of New Zealand is one of the rainiest spots in the world, so the run-off water creates beautiful waterfalls since there is very little shorelines. Steep 5000-7000 ft mountains rise directly from sea level in dramatic fashion since the entire fjord was carved by a glacier during the ice age. It was breathtaking scenery.
Waterfall in the fjord
Along the cruise, the captain taught us about the formations we were seeing and drive us very near a few of the larger waterfalls. We were lucky enough to have the low clouds clear out for the cruise and had no rain while on the boat. We also were incredibly lucky to see the “Milford Sound Trifecta” of wildlife. At the start of the cruise we saw baby and mother bottle nose dolphins from a distance. Later as we worked toward the Tasman Sea and the mouth of the fjord, we saw a number of fur seals sunning on the rocks. On the way back into the protected area of the sound, we encountered a larger pod of bottle-nosed dolphins including some playful ones that swam right alongside the boat for a good 10 minutes…it was incredible being so close to them. As we neared the end of the cruise, we caught only 1 of the fjord crested penguin…a rare and endangered penguin found only in Fjordland National Park. We watched as he worked his way across the rocky terrain and disappeared into the forest before ending the cruise.
Dolphins along the cruise (left – Photo credit: DPH) 
Seals sunning on the rock 
Penguin walking along the cliff 
Dolphin swimming around (photo credit: Tom)
The only thing we missed out on was cruising out into the Tasman to see the entrance of the fjord. This was due to rough waters in the Tasman. I think the wildlife sightings more than made up for missing the coastline view.
The return bus trip to Queensland backtracked through the same roads, the only going into Milford Sound, and included the same stop at Te Anau. The only other highlight worth mentioning of the bus trip was that we passed a grouping of trailers on the side of the road we were told was the crew filming “The Hobbit Movie”.
Finally, after more time than I like to spend on a bus in day, we were back in downtown Queenstown. With it being relatively late, we just returned to the hotel for dinner and to discuss the plans for our final full day of vacation.
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