This was our route:
Saturday 5 January 2013 Sydney to Queenstown
At 5:30 am, we caught a taxi to Sydney Airport for our 8:20 am direct flight to Queenstown on Air New Zealand. The flight was excellent and we got a beautiful view of snowy mountains as we flew over the South Island. Queenstown airport surrounds were incredibly pretty.
We picked up our Avis rental car, a lovely silver Toyota Rav 4, and Nick drove to our accommodation, Larch Hill Bed & Breakfast/Homestay. Our room was lovely, with a beautiful view of Lake Wakatipu.
We rested for about an hour then drove into town for our one hour Segway on Q: Bay Ride, which I’d booked for 5:00 pm. We had a lesson first then went for a ride on a path in a waterfront park along Lake Esplanade to Steamer Wharf. The Segways were so much fun, I wished I had one of my own.
At 7:00 pm, we headed to the Minus 5o Ice Bar. We were given coats and gloves. The ice sculptures inside were beautiful.
I’d booked a family pass which included one cocktail or mocktail each. My glass was made of ice and the alcohol made it spring a leak. The staff gave me – and others – a refill. Our visit was only 30 mins, so by the time we left, I could really feel the effects of the drinks!
We wandered up the street and discovered Sombreros Mexican Cantina. The food was really good.
Sunday 6 January 2013 In Queenstown
We enjoyed a yummy late breakfast at our accommodation before heading out.
I’d booked the Skyline Queenstown Gondola, a ride up to Bob’s Peak. We walked around the top looking at the view and bought some souvenirs in the shop.
We had lunch at Subway then went to Kiwi Birdlife Park, which was at the bottom of the Skyline. We saw kiwi feeding and a conservation show, and bought some wooden balancing kiwis to play with.
We rested in the afternoon and had pizza for dinner. We drove out to Onsen Hot Pools for a one hour booking at 9:30 pm (late enough to see the sun set). The view over the Shotover River was beautiful, but I found the pool too hot.
Monday 7 January 2013 Queenstown to Wanaka
We checked out and went on the very scenic drive to Wanaka. We stopped at lookouts along the way and looked at wildflowers – lupins – and saw planes flying into Queenstown airport.
We went to Have a Shot shooting complex so we could try firing rifles. We all did well and Nick had two turns of the claybirds.
We went across the road had lunch in the Warbirds & Wheels café, which had a 1950s décor and good food.
We then went into the National Transport and Toy Museum. There were heaps of toys I hadn’t seen since I was a kid. There was a massive shed with hundreds of old cars, many from manufacturers I’ve never heard of.
We then went to the Warbirds & Wheels museum. The museum had a small number of fighting aircraft and some gorgeous classic cars in pristine condition. The Packards were my favourite; they were just gorgeous.
We checked into our room at Panorama Court. It was an older style motel with a beautiful view of the lake and mountains.
I did the washing then we walked up to dinner at Amigos Mexican Grill.
Tuesday 8 January 2013 In Wanaka
In the morning, we went to Puzzling World, which had a Great Maze, Illusion Rooms, Roman Toilets, Leaning Tower and Puzzle Centre. We took our time so we could see everything and had lunch there too. It was a great place to go to on a holiday; heaps of fun for all ages.
We had a rest at the accommodation, then in the afternoon, we went to Basecamp Wanaka Climbing Centre. It had Basecamp indoor and outdoor climbing walls and Clip ‘n Climb. Clip ‘n Climb was great because it had automatic belays, so we didn’t need to rely on other people to be a good belayers. Tom and Ash did a great job and went right to the top of different walls. I had my first go at climbing up a wall and only made it about halfway up. I just couldn’t make myself go any further.
We had simple dinner at Subway.
Wednesday 9 January 2013 Wanaka to Mount Cook Village
Today we checked out and drove to Mount Cook Village. We drove into light rain, which increased in intensity. We had lunch at Ladybird Hill Café, Restaurant, Winery and Salmon Farm at Omarama. We fed the salmon briefly in the rain then rushed back to the car.
We tried to go to the Omarama Clay Cliffs but there was a $5 fee. As it was raining, we didn’t bother. We saw heaps of Swamp Harriers along the way.
I had booked and paid for a ski plane flight in the afternoon, but we couldn’t do it because of the weather; by this time heavy rain and gale force winds.
The rain got even heavier and I could hardly see by the time we got to the Hermitage Hotel at Mount Cook Village. I had booked and paid for an Explorer Pass to give us 24 hour theatre access in the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre. We watched a few 2-D, 3-D and Planetarium movies and had a look around. We got snacks from the gift shop then holed up in our chalet.
I made some pasta for dinner because we didn’t dare go out. The wind was so wild we thought the chalet might get torn apart.
Thursday 10 January 2013 In Mount Cook Village
We awoke after hearing amazing gale force winds for most of the night. The morning was fairly clear and we could see that there were mountains all around us. Rain started again but we went on the tour I had booked, on the Tasman Glacial Lake with Glacier Explorers.
We had a bit of a walk – 30 min – to the lake wearing warm gear then went by boat to the glacier. We saw an iceberg rolling.
We walked back and looked at the plants and animals along the way.
We had hot chips for lunch in the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre. We spent the afternoon reading then had a good dinner in a café near our accommodation.
Friday 11 January 2013 Mount Cook Village to Oamaru
We woke to a beautiful morning and saw a view we hadn’t even known was there for the last two days!
We rang to find out if we could go for the flight I booked with Mount Cook Ski Planes and Helicopters (for two days ago!). We couldn’t go on a ski plane but were allowed to go on a helicopter flight at 2:00 pm. We checked out then Ash and I did part of the Hooker Valley walk. We drove to Mount Cook Airport and did our briefing. Our helicopter was a Squirrel and we did The Grand Circle flight. It was a 55 minute flight through the Aoraki Mt Cook and Westland National Parks with a snow landing on the Tasman Glacier.
It ended up being even better than a ski plane flight because the pilot could hover close to things for us to have a good look. The snow field at the top of the Tasman glacier was pristine, with a slight orange tinge due to bushfires in Australia! The whole flight was magnificent. The weather closed in again after our flight, so we were incredibly lucky to go at all.
We drove to Oamaru and had lunch on the way at a café in Twizel.
We checked into Ambassador Lodge. After a rest, we went to see the Yellow-eyed Penguins at Bushy Beach Scenic Reserve. We looked down at the beach from a lookout and saw two penguins and five New Zealand fur seals. It was lovely to see them in their natural habitat, with hardly any people around.
Saturday 12 January 2013 In Oamaru
We went to Oamaru’s Victorian Precinct and looked at some of the old buildings and machinery.
Ash and I went for a ride in a horse-drawn carriage! We went to the park and had a go on the flying fox and ran in the barrel. Brunch was at Annie’s Victorian Tea Rooms (sadly closed 6 months later).
In the afternoon, I did all of our washing. Luckily it was a hot day!
We had dinner at Subway then went to see the Blue Penguin Colony, which I’d booked. 209 little penguins came ashore! They swam in rafts to the beach, walked up the slope then ran through a gap in the fence to man-made burrows. They were very cute.
Sunday 13 January 2013 Oamaru to Dunedin
We checked out, had breakfast at Maccas then drove to the Moeraki Boulders. These were huge round rocks on a beach. They looked amazing!
We arrived at the Victoria Hotel in Dunedin and were told we had been upgraded to the penthouse. I carted our four heavy bags up the stairs only to find the bedding was unsuitable – two double beds. We were then given another room.
We had lunch at Nandos, which was on the ground floor of our hotel. We could get internet near reception.
We drove to Wellers Rock wharf for our 4:15 pm wildlife cruise, which I’d booked with Monarch Wildlife Cruises. The road was very windy going along the Otago Peninsula. It was raining when we went out but cleared to a blue sky. We saw lots of birds, including Northern and Southern Royal Albatross and Giant Petrel.
We also saw New Zealand Fur Seals on rocks, including pups.
When we got back to the hotel, two staff members were waiting to tell us our room had plumbing issues. We were moved again but given two rooms. The staff were really good to us. We had dinner at Nandos.
Monday 14 January 2013 In Dunedin
We went for a walk into the city centre and got breakfast at Starbucks. After this, we walked around The Octagon shopping area.
We drove out to the Royal Albatross Centre on the Otago Peninsula. We had seen it from the boat yesterday. We went on the Fort Taiaroa Classic Tour. We had a great guide all to ourselves. We saw nesting Northern Royal Albatross,
Stewart Island shags,
and nesting gulls. There was also a museum with things on display from when the fort was used.
In the afternoon, we drove to Lanarch Castle for our 3:00 pm booking for high tea (cakes and little sandwiches, which I enjoyed). We looked around the castle, including climbing the tower and walking around the grounds. The view was spectacular.
We had dinner at Nandos again because it was yummy and convenient.
Tuesday 15 January 2013 Dunedin to Invercargill
We checked out, went to Starbucks again for breakfast then went to Cadbury World for our factory tour. I was genuinely shocked when they said we couldn’t go because the factory wouldn’t open until the next day. I had rung, I had a confirmation email and I’d made all our bookings of accommodation and activities for the whole trip so we could go on the factory tour. Being offered the chance to buy chocolate in their shop was no compensation. We did get to see a few things, including 1 tonne of chocolate being poured into a bucket.
We went to Baldwin Street, which was the world’s steepest street (in the Guinness Book of Records) and walked down and up it with some effort!
We got petrol then decided to visit the Otago Museum. It was one of the nicest museums I’ve ever seen and had a butterfly habitat. We had lunch at the cafe there.
We drove to our accommodation, Queens Park Motels in Invercargill. Bob the cat led us to our rooms, came inside and slept for three hours on the lounge chairs (and on me!) while we watched The Hangover. He was the most beautiful, loving, trusting cat I’ve ever met. For dinner, we had Dominoes.
Wednesday 16 January 2013 In Invercargill
I did some washing and then we went to Queen’s Park and had breakfast in the museum cafe. We had a look at the aviary, Japanese garden, greenhouse,
animals and the Exeloo toilet (which did many tricky things).
We visited E. Hayes and Sons Limited and saw Burt Monroe‘s Indian motorbike.
It’s been a dream to see it since we saw the fantastic movie, The World’s Fastest Indian. There were some other lovely bikes and cars there too.
We went back to our accommodation and watched The Hangover Part II. Nick and I went to Oreti Beach (where Burt Monroe tested his motorbike). We had the whole place to ourselves.
We raced back to pick up Tom and Ash, got Subway for dinner and went to the cinema to watch The Hobbit. When we got back, Bob the cat visited us again.
Thursday 17 January 2013 Invercargill to Te Anau
We had breakfast at Maccas then took Tom and Ash for a drive to Oreti Beach.
We got petrol, went through a carwash then drove to Te Anau. We stopped along the way at Oreti River to skim stones.
We arrived at Edgewater Motel, which was a lovely place overlooking Lake Te Anau.
Lunch was Subway. We went to a Trout Observatory and Nick and I got stuck in the turnstile! Luckily we got through.
We went into the Visitor Centre to Te Anau Wildlife Centre Walk. There weren’t very many animals but there were two lovely Kaka. One opened a box of food.
We went for a walk along the lake, then had pizza for dinner.
Friday 18 January 2013 Te Anau
We went for a really nice walk that was recommended by our accommodation manager. It was called the Kepler Track: it started from Rainbow Reach about 12 km south of Te Anau towards Manapori. It had a swing bridge
and a lovely walk through rainforest.
There were heaps of ferns and a lot of moss. The river was running extremely fast. After this, we had lunch in a cafe.
In the afternoon, we went on the Te Anau Glow Worm Caves Tour. We had a 25 minute cruise to the cave on a fast catamaran
then a walk through the cave which had loud rushing water and waterfalls. We went in a boat under the glowworms. There was a short bush walk and a talk in the building.
We went into the town centre and looked at souvenirs and photographed birds.
Saturday 19 January 2013 Te Anau to Queenstown, fly home
We drove back to Queenstown, returned our hire car then caught our flight home to Australia.
Our holidays 