New Zealand - Day 1
New Zealand
Day 1 – Sunday 23rd August 2009
I woke up pretty instantly when my alarm went off at 5.45am. There’s something about the excitement of an 11 day overseas holiday (even when overseas is New Zealand) that makes me jump out of bed with great glee. As I usually do when I’m leaving somewhere early, I’d left everything out the night before, so I just had a shower and got dressed and ate a bit and left.
The cabbie on the way to the airport said the Queenstown was “Heaven on earth” so I guess my expectations were raised quite high.
Once at the airport, I checked my bag in (only 17kg to my relief) and then through security. It’s so much more complicated when travelling overseas! I went down and found the gate (which was actually downstairs at the airport) and then went back up and waited to use a free internet station. I was waiting in line when J rang. He sounded a bit upset, which was a bit puzzling to me, until I realised that we had misunderstood each other. I thought we were meeting at the gate, and he was still on the other side of security. He headed in, and met me at the gate.
We ended up catching a bus out to the plane, which was a bit odd, but I guess it’s a way of having more planes around the limited “parking spots” at the terminal. Some people were complaining about it, which I thought was a bit ridiculous. I mean, what’s a 5 minute bus ride?
We were seated on the plane ok, but I was a bit puzzled about all the gorgeous young fit men in Australian tracksuits. Could we be in the presence of sporting elite? My curiousity remained unsatisfied at that point.
Because J and I check in separately, he was convinced that he was “targeted” by the “random” drug people for a pat down, and so we also had separate seats. I was in 22F, which was a window seat, and it meant that as we took off I could watch as we headed over Maroubra and I could’ve seen my house, if I wasn’t busy looking at everything else.
Once the seatbelt lights were off, I went and got J, as there was an empty seat beside me. He was happy to move, because he was on the aisle, though the 3 of us stuffed into those tiny seats (there was also a big guy in the aisle seat) wasn’t that comfortable. Didn’t matter though – if you’re going to be close to someone, it’s nice that it’s a friend instead of some stranger.
The movie started and it was “Children of Men”, which I’d actually seen with J and a bunch of others a few weeks before. It made sense as it is a skiing movie, and we were heading to Queenstown, which is surrounded by ski fields. I didn’t watch it though, just sat chatting to J and staring out the window.
Our lunch with spaghetti bolognaise. I was surprised that we got lunch. And I was more surprised that the lunch was actually quite tasty. I started to get a glimpse of J’s neat nature when I saw his empty tray: everything was carefully placed and stacked, unlike mine which was a travesty of garbage.
As we got over New Zealand, we saw these incredibly beautiful mountains. They were perfect little lemon meringue icing sugar covered snow tops. Just gorgeous. And so many of them. Mountains and mountains and more mountains.
The plane took ages and ages to land. I think because the approach needs to be so careful with so many tall mountains around the airport. The airport itself was pretty ugly – not that airports are ever very attractive! – but the surrounds made up for it.
As usual, customs took ages and then we had to find our car. It was a Nissan Pulsar and it was bigger than I expected. J and I spent the entire week arguing about whether it was a “small” or “medium” car, without any resolution. It was hilarious.
J drove out and it was quite amusing (sorry J!!) to see him getting used to driving a manual car again. Once in Queenstown we found our accommodation. It was amazing! It was a massive hotel, right on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. Our room was great. Two big double beds, and a beautiful bathroom. Out of the balcony was a gorgeous view of the lake.
Once we had “unpacked”, we headed into Queenstown to book a few things and find some food. We decided against the 4WD tour to some Lord of the Rings areas, as we thought we could do that by ourselves, and J was very disappointed that Deer Park had closed, as it had a lot of key LOTR scenery. I booked my 134m swing (feeling very stupid doing so) and we wandered around town checking out the streets and taking gorgeous photos around the lake.
Eventually, we found a bakery and ate a late afternoon tea, because the meal on the plane had been pretty small and we were both hungry. We had walked most of the main streets, and hadn’t found the supermarket, so in true male style, J waited outside the info centre while I found out that the supermarket was pretty much directly across the street. We bought some key breakfast and snack supplies and then went back to the car.
We went back to the hotel and the view outside was so gorgeous as the sun set that we took lots of photos. The serenity was amazing, but there was noisy bunch of what seemed to be drunk people down at the lake. Eventually they left, which I was quite happy about.
Back up in our room, I regretted not packing my belt, as my jeans were falling down (uncomfortably, but not the point of indecency). So I decided to try and make a belt out of plastic bags, which sort of worked as I plaited the strips. J did the first download of photos onto his notebook that he had bought especially for the trip.
We headed back into town for dinner, and went to the Lone Star restaurant. It was so busy that we couldn’t get a table immediately, so in a very “grown up” fashion, we sat and waited in the bar area and had a drink. J had the first of the “beer of the south” Speights beers (he tried a couple across the week), while I went with the tried and true lemon, lime and bitters. Both of us would vary little from this across the rest of the trip.
The meals looked so huge and I wasn’t that hungry, so I ordered lamb (well, we were in NZ after all) shanks (three-quarter size). They were still pretty big, and I was certainly full.
Then it was to bed. We managed with modesty to each change in the bathroom, and it wasn’t long before I was dreaming away, and day one was over.
Day 1 – Sunday 23rd August 2009
I woke up pretty instantly when my alarm went off at 5.45am. There’s something about the excitement of an 11 day overseas holiday (even when overseas is New Zealand) that makes me jump out of bed with great glee. As I usually do when I’m leaving somewhere early, I’d left everything out the night before, so I just had a shower and got dressed and ate a bit and left.
The cabbie on the way to the airport said the Queenstown was “Heaven on earth” so I guess my expectations were raised quite high.
Once at the airport, I checked my bag in (only 17kg to my relief) and then through security. It’s so much more complicated when travelling overseas! I went down and found the gate (which was actually downstairs at the airport) and then went back up and waited to use a free internet station. I was waiting in line when J rang. He sounded a bit upset, which was a bit puzzling to me, until I realised that we had misunderstood each other. I thought we were meeting at the gate, and he was still on the other side of security. He headed in, and met me at the gate.
We ended up catching a bus out to the plane, which was a bit odd, but I guess it’s a way of having more planes around the limited “parking spots” at the terminal. Some people were complaining about it, which I thought was a bit ridiculous. I mean, what’s a 5 minute bus ride?
We were seated on the plane ok, but I was a bit puzzled about all the gorgeous young fit men in Australian tracksuits. Could we be in the presence of sporting elite? My curiousity remained unsatisfied at that point.
Because J and I check in separately, he was convinced that he was “targeted” by the “random” drug people for a pat down, and so we also had separate seats. I was in 22F, which was a window seat, and it meant that as we took off I could watch as we headed over Maroubra and I could’ve seen my house, if I wasn’t busy looking at everything else.
Once the seatbelt lights were off, I went and got J, as there was an empty seat beside me. He was happy to move, because he was on the aisle, though the 3 of us stuffed into those tiny seats (there was also a big guy in the aisle seat) wasn’t that comfortable. Didn’t matter though – if you’re going to be close to someone, it’s nice that it’s a friend instead of some stranger.
The movie started and it was “Children of Men”, which I’d actually seen with J and a bunch of others a few weeks before. It made sense as it is a skiing movie, and we were heading to Queenstown, which is surrounded by ski fields. I didn’t watch it though, just sat chatting to J and staring out the window.
Our lunch with spaghetti bolognaise. I was surprised that we got lunch. And I was more surprised that the lunch was actually quite tasty. I started to get a glimpse of J’s neat nature when I saw his empty tray: everything was carefully placed and stacked, unlike mine which was a travesty of garbage.
As we got over New Zealand, we saw these incredibly beautiful mountains. They were perfect little lemon meringue icing sugar covered snow tops. Just gorgeous. And so many of them. Mountains and mountains and more mountains.
The plane took ages and ages to land. I think because the approach needs to be so careful with so many tall mountains around the airport. The airport itself was pretty ugly – not that airports are ever very attractive! – but the surrounds made up for it.
As usual, customs took ages and then we had to find our car. It was a Nissan Pulsar and it was bigger than I expected. J and I spent the entire week arguing about whether it was a “small” or “medium” car, without any resolution. It was hilarious.
J drove out and it was quite amusing (sorry J!!) to see him getting used to driving a manual car again. Once in Queenstown we found our accommodation. It was amazing! It was a massive hotel, right on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. Our room was great. Two big double beds, and a beautiful bathroom. Out of the balcony was a gorgeous view of the lake.
Once we had “unpacked”, we headed into Queenstown to book a few things and find some food. We decided against the 4WD tour to some Lord of the Rings areas, as we thought we could do that by ourselves, and J was very disappointed that Deer Park had closed, as it had a lot of key LOTR scenery. I booked my 134m swing (feeling very stupid doing so) and we wandered around town checking out the streets and taking gorgeous photos around the lake.
Eventually, we found a bakery and ate a late afternoon tea, because the meal on the plane had been pretty small and we were both hungry. We had walked most of the main streets, and hadn’t found the supermarket, so in true male style, J waited outside the info centre while I found out that the supermarket was pretty much directly across the street. We bought some key breakfast and snack supplies and then went back to the car.
We went back to the hotel and the view outside was so gorgeous as the sun set that we took lots of photos. The serenity was amazing, but there was noisy bunch of what seemed to be drunk people down at the lake. Eventually they left, which I was quite happy about.
Back up in our room, I regretted not packing my belt, as my jeans were falling down (uncomfortably, but not the point of indecency). So I decided to try and make a belt out of plastic bags, which sort of worked as I plaited the strips. J did the first download of photos onto his notebook that he had bought especially for the trip.
We headed back into town for dinner, and went to the Lone Star restaurant. It was so busy that we couldn’t get a table immediately, so in a very “grown up” fashion, we sat and waited in the bar area and had a drink. J had the first of the “beer of the south” Speights beers (he tried a couple across the week), while I went with the tried and true lemon, lime and bitters. Both of us would vary little from this across the rest of the trip.
The meals looked so huge and I wasn’t that hungry, so I ordered lamb (well, we were in NZ after all) shanks (three-quarter size). They were still pretty big, and I was certainly full.
Then it was to bed. We managed with modesty to each change in the bathroom, and it wasn’t long before I was dreaming away, and day one was over.
That lake is so gorgeous! I love the way you write; you capture the excitement and amusement you felt well.
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