Tales from New Zealand: Life in Queenstown

I've well and truly been missing from the blogosphere and I'm sincerely sorry about that.  Winter sees a real lull in energy levels for me.  I run from the office, straight home to the ducted heating and don't dare leave the house much.  And this year my energy levels have been the lowest in years, so I figure it's best not to post much at all.

Queenstown was an amazing place.  It is like a fairy tale.  You could fool anyone that you are at any ski resort in the world and they would be non the wiser.  Photos do not do it justice.  It is picturesque, warm, friendly inviting and relaxing.  As soon as I arrived I didn't want to leave.  I take heart in the fact that it is a cheap 3 hour plane ride away.

The weather was warm, perhaps a little too warm which meant that all the mountains were closed for skiing, but the amazing house that I got to call home, as well as the delicious food I got to eat surely made up for it.  I think I will reserve a post just for "eating my way around Queenstown".

The descent into Queenstown through the mountains from Wanaka.

 

The view from my bathtub on a cold and foggy morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long, LONG walks along the lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just me and the ducks. And my backpack.

Tiny bit of snow.  And I did quickly tire of wearing the same clothes every day.

Little guy!

Notes from New Zealand - Day 1

The night before departure I decided to do my tax return, so while stressing over my packing and cleaning the house, I was also finalising deductions.  Lunacy.  After falling asleep at an ungodly hour, the airport thing was an easy affair.  Except that the flight was around 3 hours late thanks to a closed runway (which was passed by lunch at Movida, no less-thank you brilliant international terminal).  Add to that a severe seizure by a passenger on the flight, which made me question whether this trip was a good idea.

Christchurch is in a sorry, empty and eery state, especially at 9 o'clock at night after a 12 hour ordeal.  The city centre is closed and people are leaving en masse due to the persistent earthquakes.  We wanted to start the road trip to Queenstown that night, but only made it as far as Methven before the fatigue and darkness stopped us in our track.

But waking up to this out the window the next morning certainly made up for the slow start.