new zealand - queenstown

It's been a few weeks since my last post! I was lucky enough to head back to Calgary for about 6 weeks for work and to visit friends and family which was so refreshing! So I have been a bit busy with that but now I am back in Oz and thought I should continue with my blog posts about the adventures I've had!

So let's continue with New Zealand!  The rest of the trip we spent in Queenstown.

Simone and I - first night out in Queenstown

Our first night in Queenstown, we found a cheap place near the town centre for a pretty good price for being last minute. We wound down with some wine and cheese, watched some TV and then Simone and I decided to check out the town and go for a walk. Then we ended up going to the first place with good music and had a really good and random night out!

The next day Kristy and Alicia wanted to go check out some wineries. So we checked out went for a drive and had a yummy lunch at Amisfield Wine Company. We also checked out a little winery, Chard Farm. After lunch, we went to check into the Novotel Hotel, where we would be staying for the rest of the trip. I had a little nap while the girls went to book our day trip to Milford Sound.

That night we went around pub hopping after having a bite to eat the famous Ferg Burger in town and yes it was very delicious! It's always so busy in there, lines ups out the door!

Amisfield Wine Company - Wine Tasting & Lunch

Cute place called Chard Farm for bit more wine tasting.

Dinner at the famous Ferg Burger

The busy line ups at Ferg Burger

Excited to try my burger!

Enjoying our delicious burgers and more!

Milford Sound was so beautiful! It was a bit cloudy and rainy so that was a bit unfortunate, but looking back it was still really amazing to see. It was a really long day though. It took the bus 5 hours to get there and another 5 hours to get back. The ferry through Milford Sound was about 2 hours and we had a buffet lunch. Words can't describe how pretty this place is, and I can only imagine how it would be if it was a nice day out, so I'll the photos do the talking. We also stopped at a few places along the way to Milford Sound which was pretty cool! It had also started snowing this day too, so we were all getting excited about hitting the snow the next day.

Along the way to Milford Sound,  Snowy mountains one minute... and a few steps later and we're in a rainforest

Milford Sound - At the ferry terminal

Spotted a dolphin swimming along side our ferry

We got to check out The Remarkables for a full day and a half day at the Coronet Peak. Both days were equally windy, snowy and cold. Some of the lifts were shut down because of the extreme windy conditions which kind of sucked because I was looking forward to checking out their mountains. The Remarkables was more of a beginners mountain. I think Coronet would have been really good but I didn't get to explore the place because only one lift was open. So I can't even really compare it to the Rockies.

Ready for the snow!

The Remarkables - very snowy and windy conditions

Skiing lessons for Simone and Kristy

Coronet Peak - Very windy day

Beautiful view of Queenstown on our way up to the mountains

The nightlife in Queenstown is a lot of fun! We went out almost every night and we discovered new places each time. There are so many little alley ways and streets full of cafes, clubs, bars, restaurants, shops so we could just hop around from one place to the next! It's very lively each night as well so there was always something to do.

On our last day in Queenstown, we woke up to snow everywhere in town, which the locals said that it's rare that they get that much snow in town. It was really cool for the girls because they rarely get to see snow. It made me appreciate the snow though to see the excitement in their eyes! Haha. Queenstown was really beautiful with the snow everywhere. We had some brunch at this cute little place close to the lake and then we had a walk around the shops for some last minute shopping.

Overall, I would have to say NZ is a trip in itself. It was nice that we got to see a snippit of a few things in the south island but there was so much more to explore. 9 days was fun, and I had a really great time with the girls and made some really good friends, but I wouldn't have mind if we stayed a bit longer! Well that just means that I'll have to make another trip back sometime and explore some more, perhaps the North Island, which I hear is really picturesque.

Our last night out in Queenstown - we went for Mexican