Queenstown, Toby's new love

Our road trip was mostly over by Sunday, and we had very special people to meet up with in Queenstown! So we got on the road pretty early for our 3 hour (and in New Zealand driving times that means 4 hour) drive up to Queenstown. Our route out of the wilderness of the south took us on some pretty small, country roads. Two exciting events happened on them. First, we saw a sheep farmer, hard at work with his sheepdog on a Sunday morning. The dog was herding the sheep right across the road when we came up over a hill, so we stopped far back and watched the show. It was so cool! When we drove past the farmer, he didn't seem to be too enthralled to see tourists in his working area! The second big event was Holly taking her inaugural drive on the left side of the road. A bit nervous to start....  

Hands at 10 and 2!

But radiating confidence by the end!  

 

The backseat was happy too!

  Having driven that car for a few day myself, I have to say that New Zealand roads are not made for SUVs, even a small one like ours. They just don't fit in the tiny roads, spaces, or car parks! Holly made it look natural though! Our drive was mostly uneventful after that. Just lovely New Zealand countryside, with the snow-capped mountains appearing part way through our drive, and getting closer and closer through the day.

 

 

 

   

We see snow!!!

  One thing these picture don't capture is how windy it is there, especially on the southern part of the island and through the Otago Plains. One thing that's a common sight is windbreaks made of rows of trees. Farmers will plant rows of frees close together and create spaces where the livestock will be a bit protected from the wind. It might not sound like much, but once you've experienced that cold south wind for a few days, you will think there should be windbreaks everywhere! We made one final stop before heading into Christchurch: the little town of Kingston. Just like our Tennesee Kingston, it's right on a lake. There was even a boat out taking someone on an inner tube. The water felt just a bit colder though!  

View from Kingston

 

Kingston girls hanging out in Kingston

  The drive into Queenstown from Kingston followed the edges of Lake Wakatipu, and it was beautiful.  

  Then in Queenstown, we found our apartment and our very special people!  

 

  We spent our time in Queenstown going to a nice dinner at Amisfield Winery...  

Amisfield Winery

 

Fun, at-the-table dessert assembly

  Riding the gondola....  

T sound someone to laugh at his jokes!

Just a little bit steep!

But beautiful at the top

  And checking out the town... Queenstown is such a cute little town. It seemed to have a good mix of backpackers, tourists there for the day, and retirees who were just happy to be living in such a beautiful spot. Compared to the place we'd been the previous night, Queenstown was positively metropolis. There were tons of restsurants and bars, and an unbelievable number of shops for booking an adventure outing. There was bungee jumping, kayaking, zip lines, the list goes on and on. It was hard to comprehend how there could be so many people that all the places were busy, but they were.  

   

One of the main squares

  Our last task in Queenstown was the night before we left on the hike. It was time for our briefing and to sign our lives away!

 

  We all liked Queenstown and had a lot of fun walking around, checking our shops, etc. But no one loved it as much as T. Mostle ecause of the mountains rising up dramatically all around, he was absolutely taken with it. Maybe a return visit is in our future!