Milford Sound Cruise and Queenstown

After a surprisingly comfortable night in our 'compact and bijou' cabin, we set out early for a cruise of Milford Sound.

The weather gods had bestowed clear blue skies upon us, something which the locals remarked upon as something that only happened about 4 times a year, and it set the scene for an absolutely stunning trip.

Again, words will not adequately describe the beauty of the landscape amongst which we sailed, and the photos will be a poor recreation.  Suffice to say that the hour and a half we spent aboard the cruise ship has cemented my belief that Milford Sound should feature amongst the top 100 places to visit before you die.

Once we had returned to dry land, we had a 4 and a half hour drive to Queenstown awaiting us.  I drove the first leg of 2 hours back to Te Anau, whilst Selina took control of the last 2 and a half hours to Queenstown.

As we approached Queenstown, our route took us alongside the shores of Lake Wakatipu, which the city sits on under the shadow of the Remarkables mountain range.  Coupled with the blue skies which had followed us from Milford Sound, our arrival into Queenstown was indeed remarkable (see what I did there?).

Although late in the afternoon, there was still plenty of sun to enjoy, so we quickly dropped our cases off at our accommodation and headed into town for a few drinks.  The centre of Queenstown was heaving as there was a concert on, but we found ourselves a nice spot in the sun in a bar near the quayside.

We shared our table with a pleasant Kiwi couple, who lived in the north island but were on a cycling tour of the south island.  A few hours and more than a few pints slipped by very pleasantly as we chatted away, but as the sun set behind the hills our minds turned towards food.

Our friends recommended a popular burger bar just round the corner from where we were, which reinforced its popularity by sporting a queue out the door and requiring a 30 minute wait for food.

After our burger (which was worth the wait), it was getting late so we headed back to our room to turn in for the night.

After all our travelling on the road, we are treating ourselves to two nights in Queenstown, so tomorrow will be further exploration of the city and surrounding area.

TTFN