12/28/2023
We arrived in Queenstown two days ago. The morning we left Franz Josef gave us nice enough weather to actually see the glacier; it was no longer shrouded in mist! So we took a few minutes to look at the namesake of the town where we spent Christmas before continuing on through the Haast Pass to Wanaka.
Apparently Haast Pass is on many a couple’s bucket lists to bike-camp. We saw 4 couples attempting this strange ritual. The scenery was beautiful, especially now that the weather had cleared up a bit. We made a few attempts at stopping to see some sites, the most successful was the Ship Creek beach and swamp walks. I recognized it from the last time I was here. We must have stopped there on our similar journey from the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers through to Queenstown. It was a nice spot to stop and each lunch, walk on the beach for a little bit, and enjoy the world heritage forest.
When we got to Wanaka I wanted to attempt to climb Roy’s Peak to get some pictures, so we split up. Mom and Dad and Luke and Alyssa went on to Queenstown, and John, Preston, and I went to Roy’s Peak. It was already pretty late in the afternoon when we started climbing, and the internet made it sound like a much easier hike. It was a steep uphill climb across the side of a bare mountain. We only made it about a 5th of the way before we decided it was not rational to continue. The views were already beautiful, so we got a few pictures and then headed back down for Queenstown. Maybe that will be our big hike the next time we come.
We arrived in time to join the rest of the family for dinner in Queenstown.
Queenstown is not really how I remember it. It has been really built up with an expanded, but cute, lakeside downtown shopping and restaurant district. We ended up eating dinner there after the kids had a chance to explore the local playground.
Apparently Haast Pass is on many a couple’s bucket lists to bike-camp. We saw 4 couples attempting this strange ritual. The scenery was beautiful, especially now that the weather had cleared up a bit. We made a few attempts at stopping to see some sites, the most successful was the Ship Creek beach and swamp walks. I recognized it from the last time I was here. We must have stopped there on our similar journey from the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers through to Queenstown. It was a nice spot to stop and each lunch, walk on the beach for a little bit, and enjoy the world heritage forest.
When we got to Wanaka I wanted to attempt to climb Roy’s Peak to get some pictures, so we split up. Mom and Dad and Luke and Alyssa went on to Queenstown, and John, Preston, and I went to Roy’s Peak. It was already pretty late in the afternoon when we started climbing, and the internet made it sound like a much easier hike. It was a steep uphill climb across the side of a bare mountain. We only made it about a 5th of the way before we decided it was not rational to continue. The views were already beautiful, so we got a few pictures and then headed back down for Queenstown. Maybe that will be our big hike the next time we come.
We arrived in time to join the rest of the family for dinner in Queenstown.
Queenstown is not really how I remember it. It has been really built up with an expanded, but cute, lakeside downtown shopping and restaurant district. We ended up eating dinner there after the kids had a chance to explore the local playground.