On the way from Te Anau to Queenstown, we made an absolute required stop. Doing a NZ wine tasting! Once that business was out of the way, we continued to Queenstown. The holiday park was basically right downtown (though it’s a tiny town anyways), so we were able to walk to everything. We spent the rest of that (rainy) day walking the waterfront and going to an awesome little pub for our first craft beer since leaving the USA.
The next day, we hiked the Tiki Track up to the Gondola for a truly AMAZING view over the town and the ‘Remarkables’ mountain range. One of the most breathtaking views we’ve seen in New Zealand so far. After hiking our way back down the steepness, we walked around the Queenstown Gardens and got dinner at an Indian Restaurant, because we still miss Indian food…
We were ahead of schedule by a day, and needed to make a detour due to road conditions, so we added a day in Wanaka before tackling the pass through the Southern Alps. I hung out in the camper while Kate and Priscilla did yoga and soaked in a jacuzzi, as it was another rainy day. We did manage to see the Wanaka Tree before leaving, which was pretty neat. I didn’t think it could be alive, Priscilla and Kate informed me otherwise.
We took the Haast pass through to the West Coast, which also follows the border of Mt Aspiring National Park. This has been my favorite drive so far. There are a ton of little stop offs along the road, so we’d only go about 30min between nature walks and viewpoints. Our favorites were the Blue Pools, the Divide viewpoint, the Thunder Falls rainbow, and Roaring Billy falls.
Highlights of Queenstown through Mt Aspiring National Park:
- Hike up to the Gondola to view Queenstown and the surrounding ‘Remarkables’
- Tons of short hikes and views while crossing the Southern Alps
- Standing at the Divide, seeing rivers flowing both West and East