Amazing to be in New Zealand and flying into Queenstown was quite spectacular. Our original flight was cancelled. so we ended up having to fly to Auckland first and then get a connecting flight down to Queenstown, all a bit stressful as we were supposed to be picking up our hire car today. We got off the plane at 9.15pm and had 15 minutes to get to Thrifty before they closed. Lucky we made it and secured the car just in time. Had to navigate back to our accommodation in the dark but got there ok.
Day 1 we went visit Arrowtown, a small historic gold mining town, which was very pretty, with nice shops, cafes etc. Had a nice stroll around and got some breakfast. Then headed into Queenstown for a look and to do some shopping. Amazing scenery and massive lake, but didn’t stay too long. Thought about going up the Skyline cable car, but for £30 each thought it not worth it.
In the afternoon we explored the countryside and found a beach called Colono on the Kawaru river, lovely peaceful spot, and the water was crisp and clear. Spent a couple of hours getting some sunshine and relaxing after a long day of travelling yesterday.
Day 2 we had another beautiful day of weather so decided to take a walk around lake Hayes, not far from our property. It took about 2 hours and it was unreal, fantastic scenery every step of the way. After that we took a drive into Queenstown and found a beach on the shores of lake Wakatipu called Sunshine bay, had a bit of a sunbathe and a swim in crystal clear water.
