Queentown & Milford Sound

Queensland is New Zealand’s adrenaline-activity capital, there are many bungy-jumping, caving, rafting, sledging, jet-boating, skiing, skydiving, and hang-gliding operations all ready to give you the thrill of a lifetime. If you’re not the type to throw yourself off a bridge or plane, the scenery surrounding the city will certainly wow you. Surrounded by Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables Mountain range, the city is a beautiful place to spend a few days. This resort town draws more than a million visitors each year.

With a population of only 9,000, Queenstown is the size of a small town but with the restlessness of a city. I spent one night out on the town with my new friend Vicky who I met while skydiving. We went to Ice Bar-Minus 5 which is literally a bar made of all ice, including the glasses. We were required to put on big warm jackets, boots, and gloves before entering the bar.

While in Queenstown I took a day trip to Milford Sound. It’s not really a sound but is a fiord. A sound is carved out by a river, while a fiord is carded out by a glacier. The water level is over 300m deep! I took the BBQ bus tour to Milford, which departed early morning and returned us to Queenstown late in the evening. We stopped at Guns camp for a BBQ lunch. They call the town a “place time forgot” as you feel you are in another time as you watch people fill up with a very old gas pump from the 20s. We stopped along the way for short hikes. Once we got to the sound we went out on a boat for a 2-hour cruise. Unfortunately the weather was bad but the area was beautiful all the same. There were waterfalls everywhere you turned as we cruised through steep cliffs.

I decided to spend my last day in Queenstown taking it easy to take it easy and wandering around the city. I took the Skyline Gondola to the top of a big hill where I saw fantastic views of the city, lake, and mountaintop. I ran into Seb, a guy I met on the bus from the Glacier to Wanaka and he insisted that I go ride the Luge with him. The luge is a very silly little cart that one rides like a go-cart. We did several laps and had lots of fun.

From Queenstown I headed back to Christchurch where I took a plane to the North Island to the city of Rotorua.

To see all photos from Queenstown and Milford Sound CLICK HERE!