The day after the wedding, we headed down to Queenstown, nestled on the shores of Lake Wakatipu in the heart of the Southern Alps on NZ's South Island.
Queenstown is known for its adventure sports. Bungy-jumping and jet-boating both got their commercial starts there. One can also go skiing, hiking, hang-gliding, off-roading, and mountain-biking, to name a few of the other activities available. We were there at the same time as an international triathlon, so the town was abuzz with foreign accents of all sorts.
While in Queenstown, we went on two half-day 4WD tours of various Lord of the Rings film sites. Unlike Hobbiton in Matamata, the rest of the sets were destroyed after filming completed. Therefore, one can only go to the locations and imagine how they looked during filming. The photo on the left shows the Kawerau River, which doubled as the River Anduin in The Fellowship of the Ring in the scene where the Fellowship passes between the Pillars of the Kings. Apparently, those statues weren't very big at all, and the cast were later superimposed onto the river to make them look bigger.
We also went jet-boating on the Shotover River. We enjoyed it so much, we did it again for half price. The above photo was taken before we got on the boat, hence the reason why our gear is dry. What the experience consists of, basically, is speeding down the Shotover River Canyon, all the while getting uncomfortably close to the walls and occasionally being spun around 360 degrees. It was awesome as, man! It's a must-do if you go to Queenstown. They even get takers in the middle of winter, when the spray freezes in your hair. The hand-rails on the boats are heated ... that must be the selling point ... ;)
On a different day, we hiked up Queenstown Hill, from which we got a breathtaking view of the surrounding area. The panoramic view at the top of the page is looking south from the crown of the hill. The Remarkables to the east (left side) feature in a number of scenes in the Lord of the Rings films. The hill in front of them, known as Deer Park Heights, served as the film location for several scenes in The Two Towers. Queenstown itself is in the lower right corner. The tiny green blob directly above and on the other side of Lake Wakatipu from the town is where the Walter Peak sheep station lies. The T.S.S. Earnslaw, the only steamship still operating in the southern hemisphere, took us there for a lovely buffet dinner at the Colonel's Homestead. We managed to snap the above photo of the old steamer from the Homestead's porch.
We also took a day trip to Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park, which is situated in the southwestern corner of the South Island. The trip involved sitting on a bus for 4.5 hours one way. Along the way, we stopped for many photo ops, including at the stream in the photo above left. When we eventually arrived in Milford Sound (which is actually a fiord), we took a half-hour cruise out to the Tasman Sea. The photo below left was taken looking back into the fiord. After the cruise, it was back on the bus for the ride home. While the journey was totally worth it, Jonathan suffered from motion-sickness for the first time in his life as a result. During one of the brief stops we made on the return journey, we encountered a kea parrot hanging out on the roof of a car. The kea is native to NZ and has been known to attack and eat sheep on occasion.
While we had originally planned on going to Fiji for our honeymoon, Queenstown was a worthy substitute. Besides, neither of us had ever been to the South Island before. The locals keep an eye out for each other, so there is very little crime and no need to lock the doors (a far cry from Auckland's crime-plagued streets!). It's an extremely expensive place to live, as it is a tourist resort in the heart of the Southern Alps. The souvenir shops all sell the same made-in-Auckland products, so it was hard to find something local (other than wine). Queenstown has some good restaurants, though. There's the Skyline Restaurant, which treated us to the best seat in the house and a complimentary glass of Lindauer Brut each as it was our honeymoon. We also ate at a place called HMS Britannia, styled on the innards of an old ship, and The Cow pizza parlour.
The South Island really seems like a totally different place. Gone are the rolling green hills and the volcanoes of the North Island. Instead, one is constantly feeling dwarfed by the sheer immensity of the towering mountains all around. During our Milford Sound cruise, we stopped by a waterfall we were told was 500 ft high, or three times the height of Niagara Falls. We couldn't believe it ... it looked so small compared to everything else around it. Our sense of perspective was completely screwed up! Someday we'll get back down to the South Island again and see more of it--Christchurch and the Banks Peninsula, Dunedin (modelled after Edinburgh, Scotland), Nelson and the Marlborough Sounds, and Mt Cook and the glaciers ...
