3/16/2024

New Zealand - day 13, last day :(

We didn't have much time to enjoy the Copthorne with a morning flight from Queenstown to Auckland before our return to the US. 

Check in at Queenstown was a breeze. We got some great views from the plane.

I can't be believe how quickly the past 2 weeks have flown by. We've done so much but so much still in New Zealand that we never got a chance to see. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to come back, see Northland, Abel Tasman, the glaciers and revisit Kaikoura. 

3/15/2024

New Zealand - day 12

Waking up on the serenity of the boat surrounded but water and mountains. The clouds cleared and we had a beautiful morning. We were also treated to the first snowfall of the year with beautiful snowcapped mountains.

We had a perfect combination of wet and stormy followed by blue sunny skies. The snow was quite a treat. 

We followed this up with a visit with alpacas. We got to feed them and pet them.


Amazing pictures on the drive back to Queenstown.

We returned to Queenstown for a final night at Copthorne hotel - not as nice as Peppers Beacon but much bigger and had a lot more tour groups.

View from our junior suite


Dinner was at The Bunker - a foodie restaurant with a hidden entryway. The food was fantastic. The waiter was eccentric. We got the tasting with wine pairing.

New Zealand - day 11

A delay in posting because we were off the grid for our Doubtful Sound overnight cruise which was amazing and everything I hoped it would be (minus animal sightings).

After a relaxing morning at the Te Anau Lodge, we got lunch and snacks in town before out on our cruise.  

Te Anau Lodge - I picked this place because it was unique - used to be a convent and was actually moved from another location 100km away and reconstructed. But also, I was able to get the best room - the cathedral room - and they had this library that is totally awesome.

We got sandwiches for lunch from Foursquare Supermarket - our favorite place for supplies on the trip.

The Doubtful Sound cruise was the first thing I booked for this trip because it was the hardest to book. I spent a long time deciding between an overnight cruise on the Doubtful vs Milford Sounds. Of course, Milford Sound is more popular and well known but I really liked Doubtful for being the opposite - more secluded, less visited, more serene. They advertised dolphins, seals and penguins but we didn't see any because on our arrival it was stormy. There was a lot of rain and wind. However, this is not necessarily a negative. It meant that we got to see a ton of rain waterfalls along the way. They form within 45min of the start of rain and stop after the rain subsides. The mountain ranges which are 4000ft high are sheer and the water just runs down. They were beautiful. The kayaking in the rain was very wet.


Surprisingly, the food on board was very good. They had tea and snacks and plated dinners with choice of protein and desserts. It was actually too much food. 


The boat we were on was the Wanderer and could accommodate up to 36 in twin bed rooms. I think we had 31 on board. 

3/13/2024

New Zealand - day 10

We had a relaxing morning in our beautiful apartment in Queenstown this morning and then drove down to Te Anau and then Milford sound. 



On the way, there was a house!!

The the drive was long but beautiful. We took a nice walk at see mirror lake and then the waterfall at Knobs flat. The moss was so lush!

We walked around Milford sound and then headed back to Te Anau. 

We're stating in Te Anau Lodge. - a converted convent. The cathedral room. We had dinner in the balcony off the library.