Queenstown for (octogenarian) Beginners: A Farewell to Travel.

[Flyfrequently]

I am writing this Trip Report for me (and my family),

Feel free to tag along for what will surely be a slow-paced and (I hope) predictable holiday.

But more than anything I want it to be an experience my mother will love.

She deserves it.

You have just brought a tear to my eye @Human , am so on board with you both on this one

 

[Human]

You have just brought a tear to my eye @Human , am so on board with you both on this one

Thank you so much!

This is the last full day of our trip and it has been everything I had hoped for. In fact, my mother and I were just walking back from having a coffee, cake and ice cream, and she announced:

"I like this place. And it's only a two and a half hour flight from Sydney. They all speak English here, they drive on the side of the road I'm used to, and the money is pretty good. Maybe in a year or two if I feel like a holiday I can come back on my own."!!!

I didn't even mention that she doesn't need a power plug adaptor either....

 

[Human]

Milford Sound was every bit as spectacular and amazing as I remember it. During the two-hour cruise up the Sound to the Tasman Sea and back, at times the sun threatened to peek through…




At other times it rained quite heavily…




We saw cascades and waterfalls (and learned that the two are different)…





Snow-peaked hills and waterlogged valleys…



The occasional wildlife inhabitant…


While being treated to very good commentary from our guide for the boat trip, Brooke. I loved it and my mother loved it. We didn’t spend the whole cruise together – she would duck inside while it started to rain, and I did check on her periodically, but the thought of spending precious time at Milford Sound indoors did not enter my mind. Why would I possibly want to miss any part of this? I was well protected in my Mountain Warehouse jacket that I’d bought for my USA trip, and just soaking everything in. Literally and metaphorically. I felt so blessed to be there.

 

[Human]

The ship docked at 3:30pm and we were hurried back onto our bus to try to beat the weather. I did struggle a bit with this final leg: 10 hours on a bus is a long time! But the views on the way back, at least before sunset, were spectacular too.



And we were “entertained” (if you can call it that) by a rental car in front of us that was driving erratically and dangerously. Brian, our driver and guide, was increasingly agitated by what he saw, and after a while he asked me to take photos and videos of the car, along with its number plate, which we then reported to the Police.



As we entered Te Anau, a member of the NZ Highway Patrol was on hand to pull the car over, and to collect the photos and footage I’d taken. We left the officer to speak to the driver, and kept going.

Upon finally arriving at our hotel at 8:30pm, we didn’t feel like going out for dinner so we had a light dinner at the Novotel’s restaurant.

I collapsed in my hotel room at about 9:30pm. I love my mother, and we’d both had a great day, but 15 hours with her had tired me out and I needed some time away from people. I did FaceTime my wife, but I can’t deny that I was just a tiny bit relieved even when that was over and I could stop interacting with people for the night!

 

[ellen10]

What a wonderful experience to share with your mother. A lasting memory to cherish for you and her. I’m envious as my dear mum died of cancer before we had time to do something like this.

I’ve loved catching up on this trip report. Your mum sounds like a wonderful, energetic and enthusiastic special lady.
Such a special trip

 

[Human]

As I wrote above, my mother’s energy levels have increased over the week as her confidence and enjoyment of Queenstown and New Zealand has grown. So on Wednesday she told me that she could handle a half-day tour on Friday. We had three options: Glenorchy, Wanaka, or a “Queenstown Highlights” tour that included Arrowtown. In the end she chose the “Queenstown Highlights” tour, both because it was a little shorter (only 3 hours) and because she’d heard a lot about Arrowtown and wanted to visit.

It was a small group tour, thankfully, with six people plus our knowledgeable guide, Al. His electric-powered bus picked us up at the front of the hotel at the relatively civilised hour of 9:15am.

First stop was a vacant block above Queenstown where we had some lovely views of the town, the lake, the mountains, and even of the airport..




This was followed by a quick photo stop at Lake Hayes.


We then drove along the Kawaru River and were taken to the Bungy Centre, which I’d never visited. It was much bigger than I expected it to be and we had some great views of the river, the bridge, and of people taking their life into their hands at great expense.








After that we had a brief stop at the Gibbston Valley Winery. My mother brought some cheese (which she was told will be permitted into Australia??) from the cheese shop and deli, while the rest of us did a very small wine tasting (I didn’t know until then that the term was a “flight” of wine). I surprised myself by loving the dessert wine on the right – a 2018 Late Harvest Pinot Gris. I purchased a half-sized bottle.







We then had time for half an hour in Arrowtown. My mother enjoyed walking down the main street, and she did make a couple of purchases: some fudge from The Remarkable Sweet Shop (and who can blame her?), and a little furry sheep to remember NZ by.



The tour ended back at our hotel at 12:45pm, at which point I was given a Most Solemn and Important Task....

 

[Human]

It was, finally, Fergburger Time.



I had a “Mr Big Stuff”, which did indeed. My mother had a “Lamby With Blue” and pronounced it delicious.



After a couple of hours to recover, my mother suggested we go out at 4pm for yet more food. This time we found ourselves at Patagonia Chocolates, where we each had coffee and we shared a Mont Blanc. I also made a spontaneous ice-cream purchase and was not disappointed. Stuffed, but not disappointed.



We agreed to meet for dinner at 7pm. I dutifully presented myself at the appointed time at my mother’s hotel room, but she simply smiled sadly and explained that the thought of eating dinner was not attractive at that time and could she have a quiet night in her room to pack and not eat. I found the request to be utterly understandable and one I was very happy to accommodate.

I myself did not feel like food for several hours. I bit the bullet and went out to one of the tourist shops and bought a small jar of Manuka Honey, and walked around a bit.

In the nick of time, just when I was thinking that maybe a small meal or dessert would fit the bill, I remembered that I still had about $55 of this years American Express Platinum International Dining Credit remaining (I spent the rest on a lunch in NYC in January).

The Botswana Butchery around the corner of the hotel let me in at 10pm for dessert and a drink…


I had a Taylor’s 20-year-old Tawny Port which was one of the best tawnys I’ve ever had…


And a Crème Brulee dish which was superior to most, if not all, crème brulees I’ve had in Paris.


And that took up my unused dining credit quite nicely.

I had one short final night walk around the water, and returned to the Novotel for our final night in Queenstown!

 

[cambriamarsh]

My original plan for today had been to go to the Kiwi Park. But we did that yesterday, which made today a “nothing planned” rest day, sort of. The biggest day of our trip by far is tomorrow, so I wasn’t fussed about a “lighter day” today.

Having said that, I’ve still done over 11,000 steps so far today. For better or worse, our “lighter” day could be more accurately called a “shopping” day.

We did give ourselves a sleep-in and a 9:30am breakfast. After breakfast while my mother got ready for the day, I went out for a short 25-minute walk into Queenstown Gardens. The sun was shining and it was lovely.
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Then my mother and I ventured out into Queenstown. I’m not going to bore you with a blow-by-blow account. We went into shops, we bought things, we ate stuff.

OK – I can’t resist showing you the “Ferg Pie” and pretzel that I bought from Fergbaker for lunch.
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And of our purchases and places we visited, I do want to point out two that, in my opinion, deserve to be plugged and patronised. These two establishments aren’t exorbitantly priced or cynical, they just have a lot of character and go “above and beyond” the normal tourist souvenir overseas mass-produced downmarket (and upmarket) chaff. Yes, it’s aimed at tourists, but their products actually deserve a second look. (And no, I’m receiving no incentive to plug these places!)

First, Frank’s Corner. My wife and I first encountered Frank’s Corner during a visit to Glenorchy last year; when she found out that there’s one in Queenstown she solemnly instructed me to visit, as is her custom and solemn right when I’m travelling and she’s stuck at home! Frank’s Corner sells only quality, locally-made art and crafts.
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I even met Frank himself, who spends his day alternating between a cart which sells mainly merino and possum fir products down the bottom of the hill in Camp St, and the actual shop which is a couple of hundred metres up the hill. It’s some way of keeping fit!

Thanks for this. My daughter is in QT and we are in ChCh so are often in the area. My leader is a very keen knitter and gasped in joy when she saw the wool. It's a definite must visit for us next time we are there.

 

[Human]

Thanks for this. My daughter is in QT and we are in ChCh so are often in the area. My leader is a very keen knitter and gasped in joy when she saw the wool. It's a definite must visit for us next time we are there.

My daughter is a knitter too and I FaceTimed her from Frank’s Corner. Needless to say I walked out with a bag full of wool! (among many other things).

 

[Human]

I woke up just early enough on our last morning to pack and go for a very quick walk into Queenstown Gardens.



We each had a slightly more indulgent breakfast than usual…


Before we checked out and took an Uber into the airport.

We were checked in, through Security and Passport Control, and in the Manaia Lounge within 15 minutes of arriving.


The Manaia Lounge is my “Teachers Pet” Lounge. It’s small, it doesn’t have barista coffee, its selection of alcoholic drinks is pedestrian … it possibly doesn’t quite deserve the A grade I’m giving it. But I’m giving it an A anyway. I love this lounge. And it does have a lot going for it. The staff are wonderful, the seats are comfortable and varied; even though there are no hot meal options the finger food is fresh and tasty. The bathrooms are clean. And the wifi works well.






And have I mentioned the views? Along with Cairns, this lounge has the best view of any lounge I’ve visited.


And let’s face it, it hits the last Priority Pass lounge I visited out of the ballpark.

My mother and I had a pleasant hour or so in the Lounge before boarding for VA162 was called. We looked down at Gate 8 below us and Priority and General boarding were boarding at the same time.

My mother was in 3F and I was in 3E, which I’d chosen as fallback options if clouds had prevented her from viewing the Southern Alps on the flight in. I was just a little relieved to see that we were in one of the un-refurbished 737-800s with hectares of legroom for the people in Row 3.


We departed about 15 minutes early. We passed crossed through heavy clouds almost immediately and the clouds stayed that way until after we’d left NZ. Just as well we’d had our pretty good views of the Alps on the inbound flight!



While flying over the Tasman I took the opportunity to read more of Melissa Febos' Body Work, and to draft some of this TR. My mother looked over and asked “What are you writing?”

“I’m writing my Trip Report, Mum.”

“Oh ok. I’m thinking of writing a report of this holiday for our Church Seniors' Newsletter on Friday — they’re always asking for people to contribute.”

“That’s great — make sure you send it to me once you’ve finished it.”

“Of course I will. You’ve done a writing course. What writing tip can you give me?”

Hmm. How do you condense a week’s worth of intensive learning into one piece of advice? But I did think of something:

“Start with the most interesting thing. If it came later in the week, it doesn’t matter. Start with the highlight to hook readers in. Then flash back to the start of the holiday if you need to.”

I will be very interested to read what she comes up with. After all, my love of writing is inherited!

 

[Human]

There were some lovely views as we made our descent.


We landed and ran the gauntlet that is SYD international arrivals.

As we walked through the Duty Free, I made sure the mantra was loudly playing through my head: “I don’t need more booze, I don’t need more booze, I don’t need more booze…”

Then I saw Talisker Dark Storm on special for $120 and, like a needle being jerked off a record, the mantra suddenly stopped.

Something I’d never encountered before was a Border Force officer approaching us as we were waiting for our luggage at the carousel and asking if we had anything to declare. When we told her we had NZ honey and did she want us to get it out for inspection, she dryly replied, “I’ve seen a lot of New Zealand honey before and I don’t feel the need to see any more!"

I’d booked the 7pm flight home to MEL, giving me plenty of time to go with my mother to her place, drop her off, and get back to the airport. But she was adamantly insistent that she’d be fine and she didn’t need me. So with some hesitancy I dusted off the hitherto-unused Uber app on her phone, put her into her car, and caught the transfer bus to T2. The very annoying thing was that the Virgin domestic check-in counter at the International Terminal was closed, so I had to haul my luggage with me – honey, spontaneous-whisky-purchase and all.

I got to the check-in terminal and successfully begged to be put onto the 5:00pm flight, which got me home 2 hours earlier than usual. I wasn't in my favourite Row 3, and the flight had no internet, but those were prices I was willing to pay for the sake of arriving home 2 hours earlier than planned.

Being a Saturday, the Virgin Lounge wasn't crowded, and the culinary fare was slightly better than usual…


And I started getting used to ordering a "skinny flat white" again.

The SYD-MEL flight was unremarkable. As it descended, I could clearly see lights on at the MCG. Some footy game, I think.


On the drive home I called my sister in Paris. She conveyed the news to me that our mother had already excitedly FaceTimed her to tell her all about what an exciting and fantastic week she'd had.

I arrived home content.