Day 51: drive to Queenstown
This was a “different” New Zealand than what we had experienced so far. The dreary duldrums were gone by the time we woke up. Finally, it looked like the New Zealand we expected.
One stop on our drive to Queenstown was to see the Roaring Meg. The force of the water generates power for the area.
We also went over the Lindis Pass.
Queenstown itself is pretty unique and a lot of fun. We bar hopped and really enjoyed their tourist district.
We had to cut the day short. We had to prep for a very long (and early) day ahead of us.
Day 52: Milford Sound, a Fiord
Our Travel Agent booked us for one of the tours of Milford Sound (which is really a Fiord), but it was to be on our Day 53 and Day 54 was a driving day. We asked her to move it and she said she tried but couldn’t. He really wanted to go on this one, so a couple of days before, and in about 10 minutes on his phone, he had us tickets for the day we wanted.
We had to be ready at pickup by 6:45. Fifteen minutes before they start serving our included breakfast. The bus was quite late….late enough that our group starting talking about who we would call. We should have run through breakfast and grabbed portable foods to go with the sandwiches we packed.
We were the first group on the bus, so the driver was late from the barn. Turns out, he couldn’t find the keys. He was a bit narcissistic and neurotic, so my guess is that someone didn’t put the keys back where he likes them kept.
Just down the street, at one of the next hotel pickups, our newest friends L&J boarded. We were excited to see them again since our routes around the south island were in completely opposite directions. There are 4-5 tour companies that go to the Milford Sound, so the odds of us being on the same bus were pretty slim. Of course with a guide who talked non-stop for 5+ hours, we couldn’t really chat.
The four-hour ride was really 5+ and kinda miserable. Here are the things I should put in a review, but probably won’t.
- To anyone who ever holds a microphone, if you feel the need to ask twice for a “good morning” or similar reply, just don’t. It’s demeaning and you need to earn our participation. Also: it’s 7:45am and we’re all on vacation. Let us shake the cobwebs loose.
- We aren’t allowed to talk during the tour guide’s talk. As someone who can’t usually hear these things, I appreciate that. But, he droned on for the entire five-hour trek. He said most people would sleep on the way down. Well, then he’s why most people sleep. It was like school, not like vacation.
- “Stand in a single file line.” “Do this.” “Don’t do that.”
“Don’t be late coming back to the bus” (for our only real bathroom break) “I have left people before.” (What??)
“Schedule to keep.” (He was late, but we are the ones who are rushed.) - He basically admitted that no one likes his tours. People ask all the time about flying back to Queenstown. He has the brochures for people to do that.
- His “jokes” are mostly about fining us for breaking his rules or making us doing the driving. I used the time we had phone signal to download free music to drown him out.
- I totally fucked with him a couple of times, too. He had bitched more than once about people pressing the Stop button. The buttons aren’t all labeled, so some were pushed as people wanted air or the reading light. So, when he said the CD player was busted (radio in these hills is mostly static) and offered to sing, I leaned on the Stop button. Cue another lecture. I did that two more times when he was making bird and animal noises. Dude, stop barking like a dog into a microphone! We all know what a dog sounds like.
- And here is the big one. Five hour drive. The bus has a bathroom we aren’t allowed to use “except for emergencies.” It’s obvious that they just don’t want to service the bathrooms. But the ride is far too long to hold people’s bladders hostage. Great Sights needs to do better.
We had three very brief stops along the way. Here are a couple of the pics we were able to get.
When we were almost there, we passed the southern 45th parallel. No one had to kiss a fish this time, though. We also crossed the not-continental divide in New Zealand.
The Milford Sound is technically a fiord because it’s from glacial waters. It’s very pretty, but I didn’t find it worth the very long drive. I’m also pretty sure one woman bailed at our only real stop on the way there; I never saw her again.
When we got back to Queenstown, we got off at the “town” stop. Everything here stops serving food (or closes altogether) at 9pm, so we had to work fast. The first few places we found were: full, waaaay too loud, quite pricey, or too eclectic. It was for the best though, because the gourmet pizza we landed on was fantastic. I’m going to take the idea back to Pizza 3.14 in case they want to run a special: chicken, brie, cranberry sauce, and rosemary. yum! They also had the biggest disco ball I’ve ever seen!
We hit a couple of bars (and skipped some of the super busy ones…on a Monday??). Then we felt ready to find our way back. We popped into a couple of stores for snacks and drinks. Showers were high on the agenda, and so was uploading all of our pictures and videos. But then we were both asleep in no time.
Day 53: “work” and rest
After breakfast, we explored our hotel a little bit. We found the pool, which was perfectly connected to the back of the bar. I’d love to host a party there!
We also found a tiny apiary on the roof.
We found an Irish bar for lunch. I found a good Lager and some green chowder. We spent the afternoon doing some laundry. And then, I wrote/edit while he napped.