Coming from a flat part of the world, the feeling I get when I’m in the mountains is somewhat overwhelming. The first time I flew over the Swiss Alps, I nearly cried (I was also in a turbulent RyanAir plane, so that could have contributed to it.) I find mountains beautiful, immense, comforting, and terrifying. That’s what made my trip to New Zealand one of the best of my life.
The woman sitting next to me on the flight back to Melbourne put it perfectly: “I feel safe and secure with the mountains around me.” I can’t agree with her more.
My trip to Queenstown and Wanaka was probably the most serene eight days of my entire life. Being Canadian and having spent summers at some beautiful cottages, I have high expectations for natural beauty. NZ is, in my humble opinion, as beautiful as my own maple-leaf-laden land.
As soon as our airbus pushed through the clouds over Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables, I was in heaven. Luckily, the flight landed safely on Queenstown’s runway (and not in the side of the mountain range like it looked like it was going to), and we made our way into the small town of about 13,000 people.
I imagine that Queenstown resembles Whistler or Banff (both Canadian ski villages that I haven’t been to), with the majority of people working in hostels, shops and bars being out-of-towners. Many of the once-backpackers-turned-locals just couldn’t imagine leaving. Since it’s summer down here, the town is a haven for adventure (it’s the adventure capital of the world). Most people we chatted with had just been paragliding/parasailing/ skydiving/ bungee jumping/ canyon-swinging… etc. At risk of sounding like an uncool grandma, the thrill of being in an airplane is about all I can handle these days.
I wanted my week in NZ to be a detox from taking the tram and wearing makeup, and that’s exactly what it was. When we weren’t tanning in the hot sun, we were hiking, biking, cooking, and strolling through the town. I spent a total of four days in awesome Queenstown. Here’s some pictures to do what words are never able to.
Tips and logistics:
Next time I go to Queenstown, I’ll plan to stay for at least a week. There’s lots to explore: hikes to hike, shops to wander in, and good vibes to take in. We stayed at two different hostels—the YHA Lakefront and the Nomads in the town center. The YHA is much more rustic, but has really comfy beds and a massive kitchen that looks over the lake and mountains. Everyone is pretty chill, and it’s a great place to get a good night’s rest! Nomads has been voted best hostel in New Zealand for the past three years, and for 19-year-olds, I can see why. It’s modern, massive, and right in the middle of the action. Anders and I weren’t really in the party-with-backpackers mind frame, so we both preferred the first place.
My budget: I probably only spent between $15 and $20 on food a day, which was a nice pleasant surprise. We had heaps of snacks (as we were being pretty active) and always made brekkie at the hostel: it saves so much money and is way better anyways! Anders also has a French press, so we drank a lot of coffee during the morning and only got takeaway a few times.
Groceries are expensive, and eating in restaurants is comparable to Australia (I’m used to everything being over priced.) However, drinking is much cheaper…so if you’ve been living in Australia and drinking goon, prepare for some amazing local craft beer at very reasonable prices!
Flights: Melbourne-Queenstown, $350 AUD return (and this is GOOD. I booked way in advance…you can pay over $1000 for this route as Queenstown’s airport is really tiny.) The airport shuttle into Queenstown is a lovely $8, which feels awesome after the $28 return trip to Melbourne Tullamarine!
Accommodation: The YHA was $28/ night for a 10-bed, but (luckily!) they were overbooked so we got a 5-bed for the same price. Nomads was $29/ night for a 10-bed but (unluckily) they messed up our booking and we had to pay $35 to stay in a 6-bed.
emily dickinson 