Category Archives: Locations

Places around the world

Queenstown

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Queenstown is the adventure capital of the world and yet we find a bunch of other activities to fill our day!  We are not total thrill seekers so we skipped the bungee jump, skydive, zorbing, and other crazy ridiculous life threatening activities.  We did go on a jet boat ride, hung out in an ice bar, and enjoyed a fabulous gondola to the top of Queenstown.

Skyline Queenstown

We arrive into Queenstown on a cloudy rainy day, but nothing that would stop us from exploring.  We start our day with the Skyline Gondola ride to the top of the mountain overlooking Queenstown.  It is a cold day so we are bundled up!  Each car takes 4 people or 2 people and 2 bikes.  You can ride up the gondola and take a mountain bike trail down or a luge down.

We hop on the gondola car and enjoy a leisurely ride up the mountain.  Unfortunately, it was still a cloudy, drizzly day once we got to the top so our views weren’t spectacular, but they were still very pretty.

We had planned to luge down the mountain, but the cold and rain made that a very unpleasant option so we just enjoyed a nice leisurely ride back down the mountain in the gondola.

Fergbruger

One of the best burgers in town can be found at Fergburger!  It is so popular that you are guaranteed to wait in line for at least an hour just to place your order.  But, it is soooo worth the wait!  This was truly one of the best burgers we have ever had – even better than In N out!  Yummmy, highly recommend it if you visit Queenstown!

Shotover Jet Boat Rides

Our first adventures in Queenstown is a jet boat ride with Shotover Jet Boats.   We start out with a few photo opps just because we could…

We get suited up in our life jackets, stowed our hats, and jumped in the flatbottom boat.  Our driver Peter gives us the safety protocols and we are off down Shotover river which is exclusively dedicated to Shotover boats.  The landscape is wall to wall pristine beauty and canyon action.

I’ve never been on such a thrilling ride in my life. We were inches away rocks, boulders, branches, and canyon walls.  It was exhilarating, frightening, and completely amazing!

These boats reach top speeds of 90 kilometers an hour and can fly over water in depths as shallow as 2″!  The drivers train for 8-10 weeks before they are allowed on the river.

Peter, our expert driver puts the Jet Boat through its paces, riding the rapids and performing thrilling, gravity-defying stunts within a hair’s breadth of the awe-inspiring cliff faces.

We did dozens of 360s, zipped up and down the river, and screamed loads of joy for 35 minutes!  One of the best rides of my life!  They give 1100 people trips per day with each driver making 12 trips evert day!

The Ice Bar

For some reason, they have several ice bars in Queenstown and I had to go to one!  We decided to go to Minus 5 Ice bar which is right on the wharf.  Not really sure why I insisted on going to an ice bar when it was already 15C outside (which is pretty darn cold).  But, I had to go!  They provided us with cozy warm jackets, gloves, hats and special rules for being in the ice bar.

The ice bar  is made of solid ice and the temperature is -9C!  The walls, the bar, the furniture and even the glasses are all made of ice!  They even have a half dozen ice sculptures around the bar.  Ice makes up the solid bar and benches for seating.

They have amazing sculptures throughout the bar.  Artists touch up the sculptures every 3 months and replace them every 9-10 months.  Every 45 minutes the staff rotate in and out of the ice bar so they do not have to endure the cold for too long.

The drinks are delicious and served in pure ice glasses.  You pre-pay for your drinks and we paid for 2 each.  We drank rather quickly as it was freakin cold in there!

We had a fabulous 45 minutes inside before we decided to get out and warm up!  Matt wore flip flops (or jandals as they are called here) inside the ice bar!

We stepped in next door to the Public Kitchen Bar where they had the most tasty desert cocktails.

Recap of the Day:

All in all it was a spectacular day with a gondola ride, jet boat ride, and a trip to the every so cool ice bar!

  • Kilometers Traveled: 70km
  • Hotel:  Whistler Apartments
  • Kilometers Walked:  8.3km

Events from this blog occurred in early March.  Our blog posts are 10-12 weeks behind actual events.  e are puzzled at Puzzling World and make a stop at the Transport and Toy Museum during our last blog – check it out.

Wanaka’s Puzzling World and Transport Museum

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Onward to Wanaka!  We depart Franz Josef and head toward Otago which is about 2.5 hours south.  We will eventually make our way to Wanaka where we hope to play in the Puzzling World and at the Transport & Toy Museum.

On the way to Otago we pass a lovely lookout called Thunder Creek Falls right off Hwy 6. It was a short 15 minute walk to the falls and we were rewarded with a spectacular waterfall!

We continue on southward and make a quick stop at Otago Blue Pools near Mount Aspiring.  These waters are a brilliant blue and crystal clear.  It is a very popular spot even after the 45minute hike to get there.

The mountains and lakes were stunning .

Wanaka

We finally arrive to Wanaka and go straight to the Transport and Toy Museum.  This is one man’s collection over the course of 50 years.  There are over 600 cars, 20 aircrafts and 60,000 toys and miscellaneous items spread over 4 buildings.  

Truth be told, there were many brilliant vehicles, motorcycles, airplanes, and toys but they are jammed on top of each other making it look more like a junk store than a museum.  It is rather unfortunate and super sad to see such beautiful antiques in such a poor state.  The cars, trucks, and planes are all in poor condition.

Puzzling World

After a few hours we head out to the Puzzling World.  We sign up for the combo pack which includes the Illusion Room and the Great Maze.  Starting off in the illusion room where there are 5 parts:  the hologram room, the Titled House, the Hall of Following Faces, the Ame’s Illusion Room and the Sculptillision Gallery.

Unfortunately holograms don’t come across well in photographs so no photos for you.  Next we step into the Tilted House.  Immediately I feel weird, confused, and am having a challenging time walking!  And the rooms are only tilted 15 degrees!

We move into the Hall of Following Faces.  Super creepy to be followed wherever you go, but also really cool.

The Ame’s Illusion Room perplexed us all and we had a great time solving the challenges.  I love the bathroom floor (lower left corner).

The sculpture room had wonderful illusions including the endless water spout, the floating ball, and the floating bench.

This super cool room looks “normal” from the outside, but once you get inside you notice that one side is short and the other side is tall. Another cool piece of illusion where it looks like plain ole stripes if you are in front of it or Einstein if you look at it from the side.

The Great Maze

The great maze is superb and huge!  It is designed to be achievable before total desperation sets in.  Typically it takes 30-60 minutes to complete.  Your goal is to get to each of the four corner towers.  The correct path is about 1/3 km but most people take 3-5km to complete the maze.  Yep, we all got lost but had fun faking it.

Super fun day playing in Wanaka!  I think I will rename this town the playful town of the country.

  • Hotel: Golf Course Road Chalets
  • Kilometers traveled:  271km
  • Time traveled:  4 hours
  • Kilometers Walked: 8.4km

Events from this blog occurred in early March.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.  Don’t miss our helicopter ride over the Franz Josef glaciers in our last blog.

Franz Josef & Fox Glaciers

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It is a 2.5-3hr drive from Greymouth to Westland Tai Poutini National Park where the famous Franz Josef and Fox glaciers are located.  We arrive early for our scheduled helicopter ride as we are excited. However, to our dismay it was postponed due to weather.  Shoot!  Lucky for us, we are here for a few days so we reschedule for the next day.  

We decided to go on several hikes to occupy our newly available day.  The first hike we go is called Callery Gorge Walk which takes us about 1.5hrs.

Our trail ends at another swing bridge. The right photo is the bridge from the street.

Franz Josef Glacier Walk

We head to the Franz Josef Glacier Valley walk which takes about 1hr.  This is a very easy walk on a well marked trail that leads to a large viewing platform. 

Matt has some fun with a cardboard photo of a ranger.

This is a sad fact…the Franz Josef glacier reached all the way to the viewing platform in 1908 and now look at it.

Franz Josef Glacier & Many Other Glaciers

There are many names for this one glacier, but the main one is “Te Norma a Tuawe” which means the bed of Tuawe who is a minor god.  It also is called Roimata o hone which translates to the tears of the avalanche maiden.  It is rumored that a local maori convinced her lover to traverse the mountain.  He was killed in an avalanche and it is said her tears froze creating the glacier.

The next day we arrive at Ultimate Discoveries for our 8:15am helicopter ride and we were informed that the departure is delayed due to a low, cloud layer near the heli pad.  No problem, we hang out and chat with the other guests and team that work at Ultimate Discoveries.  

This company is a family run business and they have the best customer service!  I would highly recommend them – you can take a 25, 35, or 45 minute flight and won’t be disappointed.  I hop in the front seat and capture some stunning shots of Franz Josef.

A Slight Diversion

A rain storm was expected to arrive in the afternoon, but it surprised us and was rolling in pretty quickly early in the morning.  This unfortunately prevented us from turning west towards Fox and Tasman Glacier and Mount Cook.  But our skilled pilot took us east toward several other glaciers.  Unfortunately I could not write down their names, take photos, and enjoy the ride so you just get gorgeous photos.

A few more glaciers – I just love the blue tint in the snow.

This long slide is one of my favorite shots (lower left corner).

And of course, there are a lot of mountains with no snow or glaciers due to climate change.  The reflecting pools are so pretty against the green and brown mountains.

It is summer so I assume there is more snow in the winter, but our pilot told us that the glaciers are shrinking by 1 kilometer every 10 years.

Landing on Shackleton Glacier

We dropped down on Shackleton Glacier for a fabulous photo op and it was freezing!  Yes, Matt is in shorts and yes he is crazy and yes he was cold!

Certainly a once in a life time experience.

I love the blue hue on the ice.

Some fun shots of us inside the Airbus Squirrel.  Wayne road in the front on the way back.

After our amazing ride, we returned to the office where they offered us a $100 per person refund because we were only able to be up for 35 minutes vs the planned 45 minutes due to weather.  Wow, we did not ask for the refund, they offered it straight up.  This really is a top notch organization (thank you Aaron and Georgia).

Lake Matheson

One of New Zealand’s most beautiful and iconic lakes is Lake Matheson.  Every year thousands of people come to do the loop around the lake to capture photos of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman and their reflections.  We follow the red trail around the lake.

It is still a little drizzly and definitely cloudy so we don’t expect to see much.  But, it is a beautiful walk through an amazing rain forest and around a pretty lake so why not?

If we had a sunny and clear day, you would be able to see Mount Cook behind Matt and Mount Tasman behind Wayne.

We did get some pretty lake shots.

The top photo is what the view looks like on a clear, sunny day.  The bottom two photos are what we got – still beautiful, but simply not the same.

Glacier Fun Facts

  • There are over 2900 glaciers in New Zealand
  • The majority of the glaciers do not have names.  
  • A glacier has to be over an acre in size in order to be considered a glacier
  • There are only 3 glaciers in the world that come from rainforests and two are in NZ.  The Franz Josef and the Fox glacier.  The other is in Patagonia.
  • The last time they saw any glacier advancement was in 1986.

Kiwi Rehabilitation Center

I visit a kiwi rehabilitation center in Franz Josef.  They have two young kiwis here and are incubating dozens of others.  The organizations collects the eggs and incubates them for 78 days. Kiwi eggs have a 5% survival rate in the wild so they collect them, grow them to maturity, then release them in the wild.  The babies take 3 days to hatch and are born with site, smell, taste, and hearing.  The Kiwi are kept in natural habitats, taught to forage, and then released back into the wild.

  • Hotel: Alpine Glacier Motel
  • Kilometers Traveled:   47km
  • Total time traveled: 35 minutes
  • Kilometers walked: 5.5km

The kiwis are nocturnal.  No photography is allowed in the center unfortunately.

Events from this blog occurred in early March.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual events.  Did you miss our blog post on the pancake rocks, Mitchell goldmine, and shanty town?