Day 12 – Australia/New Zealand Adventure – Queenstown

(Tuesday, March 18, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad

On to New Zealand’s South Island! First stop, Queenstown, also known as the “Adventure Capital of the World.”

Pick up from our Melbourne hotel was at 6:00 a.m., and it was very nice that they had breakfast boxes for us, since we wouldn’t be able to visit the restaurant buffet. 

It could be that because our group is mainly senior citizens, but if Cam advises us to assemble at 6:00 a.m., most of these folks start assembling at 5:30 a.m. We’re trying to fit in that way, but it goes against our nature. lol.

We departed for the 30-minute trip to the airport and then the three-hour Qantas flight, which departed at 8:40 a.m. Our flight as we crossed the Tasman Sea was quite pleasant. Wine was free! Pinot Grigio at 10:00 a.m.? Why not! They even gave us lunch, which was pretty good!

Cam had offered to see if Jim and I could be seated together, and we said not to bother. It wasn’t possible. We were right, but he convinced them to put us in rows 22 and 23 on the aisle seats across from each other. That was appreciated, and at last I wasn’t sitting in the middle again.

We had just a little bit of turbulence on our approach to Queenstown, and it’s probably because of all the mountains and valleys. Oh, and lots of clouds.

Getting through customs in Queenstown was interesting. It seemed that they were more concerned with fruits and vegetables than drugs. They don’t want any bugs coming into the country. You can be fined $400, if you bring in contraband and lie about it on your declaration form. 

At baggage claim, about half of the folks in our group found themselves in a sticky situation. It seems that their baggage was left in Melbourne. We had ours, though, thank goodness.

 We waited on the bus for about a half hour before the bagless travelers climbed aboard. It turns out the flight had been full and too heavy, so they just pulled bags out until they were at the right weight (LIFO=Last in, First out). They hoped to deliver the bags to the hotel the next day.

Once the people, whose bags were left behind, boarded our bus, we realized that one woman, traveling alone, was not with them. Apparently, they pulled her away at customs.

Cam, ever cool, said he’s never had this happen with luggage, let alone a person, so he stayed behind at the airport, while the bus took us to our hotel. 

Later we found out that, apparently they ARE very concerned with drugs in New Zealand, because the woman from our group, who went missing, did so because she had been randomly screened for drugs. They took her away, confiscated her cell phone, searched her luggage and her person, and did drug tests on her. She couldn’t even contact anyone to tell them where she was. She was missing for an hour! Of course, they found nothing. At dinner, she seemed as though she had recovered pretty well, but she told me that she fell apart after dinner in her room. 

Our accommodations were at the Novatel Lakeside in Queenstown. It’s an older, but in an excellent location across the street from stunning views on Lake Whakatipu.

We walked around the town a little before dinner, and saw that there are lots of high-end shops and many restaurants. We wouldn’t have any trouble finding somewhere to eat on our free night. There are two ice bars in Queenstown. We would not be visiting either.

Back at the hotel, we had dinner with the group in the hotel restaurant. The food was excellent, and we got to talk to some people that we hadn’t done so with yet. They are the couple who ran with us through the Houston airport after our plane had been delayed from Pittsburgh. They’re from just south of Pittsburgh and have a very interesting love story. We hadn’t gotten time to catch up with them until tonight.

Jim was happy that one of the desserts offered was traditional Kiwi pavlova with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Pavlova was one of the desserts he was served several times during his five-week visit to Australia in 1996, so he was happy to have it again. 

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert, named after Anna Pavlova, a famous Russian ballerina who toured Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. Anna Pavlova was said to be very light on her feet, and meringue is, of course, light. Both Australia and New Zealand claim the dessert’s origin, but it seems that New Zealand might be the winner because it was included in a 1927 cookbook and Australia’s earliest evidence is from 1935. 

After dinner, we wandered around the town a bit to see if we could find a spot to do some stargazing, but we couldn’t escape the street lights. We could, though, see more stars than we can at home in the suburbs.

Finally, we came back to the room and dozed a bit before getting our stuff organized for a trip to Milford Sound the next day. It was supposed to be really something, but the trip there would be interesting in itself!

8, 142 steps