NZ South Island for a special occasion

[Justinf]

This has been a long time in the making.
My daughter, now 25, is getting married in Wanaka after being with her partner since the age of 18.
They wanted to honeymoon on the South Island so they decided to get hitched there as well.
They have been engaged for quite some time.
And now it’s finally here.
Our plan was to fly from Melbourne to Queenstown and spend three days there including a fly/cruise excursion from ZQN to Milford Sound.
Then off to Wanaka for the wedding for four nights before flying back home from ZQN.
Unfortunately for us the only direct flight with QF left MEL at 7.40am and we wanted to do it in business class so that meant leaving home at 3.30am.
This probably won’t be an overly exciting TR given I won’t show anyone’s face other than my own, but I may sneak one in with the new bride and her dad, perhaps with her face blurred out.

 

[Dmac59]

This has been a long time in the making.
My daughter, now 25, is getting married in Wanaka after being with her partner since the age of 18.
They wanted to honeymoon on the South Island so they decided to get hitched there as well.
They have been engaged for quite some time.
And now it’s finally here.
Our plan was to fly from Melbourne to Queenstown and spend three days there including a fly/cruise excursion from ZQN to Milford Sound.
Then off to Wanaka for the wedding for four nights before flying back home from ZQN.
Unfortunately for us the only direct flight with QF left MEL at 7.40am and we wanted to do it in business class so that meant leaving home at 3.30am.
This probably won’t be an overly exciting TR given I won’t show anyone’s face other than my own, but I may sneak one in with the new bride and her dad, perhaps with her face blurred out.

A very picturesque part of the world @Justinf
Whilst I've been to all of those locations numerous times (cant get enough), I'll be following along with anticipation.

 

[kpc]

Beautiful part of the world...love Wanaka...will be there myself in 4 weeks' time.

 

[VPS]

Always interested in your TR. I bet there will be beer

 

[markis10]

Might be heading to Wings over Wanaka next year in a warbird, fingers crossed.

 

[Justinf]

Up early and once checked in, into the MEL business lounge.
Pretty uninspiring if you ask me.
We had some family join us which made it a bit more lively, but I was in a foul mood due to sleep deprivation.
Boarding was on time although we pushed back 10 minutes late.
The weather was frightful. A forecast top of 12 and rain.
No, not Queenstown- Melbourne.
Breakfast on board was actually quite nice. The fruit was fresh and delicious.
I had the egg-white omelette with ricotta and wife had the Turkish bread sandwich.





As our return flight was in the afternoon and I would be driving home, I decided to take advantage of the adult beverage service regardless of the time on my watch.
Predeparture drinks were sparkling water or sparkling wine, which I was overjoyed with given the time of day.
Cabin manager Belinda was great and made sure my G&Ts were plentiful although I ‘only’ had three and it was enough.



A fair bit of turbulence taking off and a lot on descent, but hey, that’s Queenstown for you.
Arrive pretty much on time. Flight time wheels to wheels down was 2 hours and 36 minutes.

 

[Justinf]

Absolutely spent although the view from the accommodation was not bad.

 

[Justinf]

I slept like Rip Van Winkle.
9.30pm Kiwi time to 9.30am.
There was tea, but no coffee in the apartment, so I had a can of coke as my caffeine fix on the balcony.
It looked like being a beautiful day and I saw some paragliders.





All we had on today was lunch with the future bride and groom with my side of the family - my middle sister, bro in law and niece and my youngest sister.
The lunch was in Wanaka so it was slightly more than an hour there on, what I have heard, one of the scenic drives in NZ.
It was.

 

[Justinf]

One of the pics look like the bloke got tangled up in the gondola lines, but looks can be deceiving.