Day 26 – Queenstown, New Zealand – 9:23 PM

The popular belief behind the naming of Queenstown, New Zealand dates back to the mid-19th Century.  According to local legend, this newly established town along the banks of Lake Wakatipu was fit for Queen Victoria, the ruling monarch of Great Britain and Ireland during that time.

I arrived in Queenstown yesterday afternoon after a long day filled with flights delayed, canceled and an airline stewardess who suspiciously questioned the weight of my carry on backpack.  I woke yesterday morning at 530 am for a 655 am flight from Hokitika to Queenstown with an hour layover in Christchurch.  I was originally scheduled to arrive in Queenstown around 10 am.

After arriving at the small, single runway airport in Hokitika, I checked in for my flight and sat down waiting to board soon after.  An airport employee dragged a cart with checked luggage to the 15-20 seat aircraft and loaded the baggage.  The pilot and co-pilot then walked towards the plane and began the preflight safety check.  It all appeared normal until they popped open a panel near the front of the plane.  They tinkered inside this panel for a number of minutes then stepped back and looked quizzically at each other.  The airport employee reappeared and unloaded all the baggage.  Even the most novice traveler knows that this can only mean one thing.  There is a problem and the flight is canceled.  This was soon confirmed over the public address system inside the terminal.

Luckily I was rescheduled on a flight that departed later that morning and caught a different connection from Christchurch to Queenstown.  All in all, it was a 10 hour day of travel; ninety minutes of which I spent in the air.  I landed in Queenstown yesterday afternoon to rainy conditions and hailed a taxi to my accommodations at Queenstown Motel Apartments.  I booked this room the day prior after my search for a hostel bed was unsuccessful.  Although I spent more than I intended on this accommodation, I have enjoyed this small slice of privacy after staying in 4-, 6-, and 8-person rooms in recent weeks.

This morning I awoke to sunshine and clear skies.  My first stop was the grocery store to restock my small, traveling supply of food.  I stepped from my motel room and was amazed at the scene that appeared before me.  In all directions there loomed tall, menacing, snowcapped mountains.  The rainclouds that shrouded them yesterday had clearly dissipated.  I raised my camera and snapped the first of many photographs.  After glancing at a map of the greater Queenstown area I learned this was a mountain range commonly known as The Remarkables.  Lake Wakatipu, Walter Peak and Cecil Peak appeared off to my right.  I was in awe at the landscape as I strolled to the local grocery store.

After returning to my room to drop off my groceries and polish off two bowls of cereal, I threw a couple items in my daypack and set out again.  My first stop was the Queenstown Gardens.  From the map it appeared the gardens would provide an even better vantage point to view the aforementioned mountains.  The map did not lie and my camera’s memory card quickly filled with picture after picture of the astounding landscape.  I sat on a nearby bench and watched the wave of activity play out in front of me.  Jet boats zipped along the surface of Lake Wakatipu as kayakers and standup paddle boarders meandered at a much slower pace.  After an hour of relaxing, I picked up my pack and continued on towards the city center.  Crowds shuffled in all directions; in and out of shops, glancing up from maps, taking seats at curbside restaurants.  I stopped in a few stores to look around and constantly had to remind myself that I did not have a surplus of room in my daypack or larger backpack.

After a couple more hours of roaming the streets of Queenstown, I returned to my motel room.  There were photographs to be uploaded to my computer, a blog post to compose and gear and supplies to gather for my 8 hour hike up to the summit of Ben Lomond tomorrow morning.

 

 

* Additional pictures from Punakaiki, Hokitika and Queenstown are now available under the New Zealand Portfolio section on the Perpetual Footsteps homepage.