Summer 2019 (Cumulative)

Flew from Atlanta to Los Angeles (itself not a short flight). Seeing that 15 hour flight duration was a little alarming, but the flight was actually quite fine. It lasted a long time, but a decent bit of that time was spent trying to sleep (Melatonin is my friend on flights like this!)

We passed right over Hawaii...which would have been neat to see aside from the fact that we were in perpetual darkness the entire flight (take off just before Midnight and land just as morning was breaking). If you’ve ever flown from LA to Hawaii, this map gives an illustration of how much farther Sydney is!

Arriving in Sydney, I couldn’t help to feel as if something was wrong...being on the other side of the world and all...

After landing in Sydney, I transferred from American to Virgin Australian for a two hour flight from Sydney to Queenstown, New Zealand. The approach to landing was SPECTACULAR with beautiful snow-capped peaks all around.

After landing in Sydney, I transferred from American to Virgin Australian for a two hour flight from Sydney to Queenstown, New Zealand. The approach to landing was SPECTACULAR with beautiful snow-capped peaks all around.

Another neat shot of the approach.

My first view of Queenstown after getting all moved into my hotel. Queenstown is a small town nestled between mountains all around and a beautiful giant lake. It’s a spectacular sight.

The next morning, I went for a bit of a hike. This is about halfway up and shows a good bit of the town of Queenstown. Most of my time was spent in the bottom right quadrant - the main touristy part. The mountains in the back of the shot are known as the “Remarkables” - an apt name if there ever was one.

Farther up the hike the trail got a bit icy and slick. I wanted to climb the big mountain in this shot - but I wasn’t sure it was possible (it is) and didn’t know if I had the right equipment due to the snow (probably didn’t). The fact that I could have used crampons several times in the past year is a fact that I view as reflection of a life well lived!

At the top of the hike (about 3000 feet above the town) - the trail became a bit sketchy due to its narrow and quite slick at time nature. Didn’t stop me or anything, just an observation. At one point I thought to myself, “this is going to be tough to ascend coming back - oh well, that’s a future-Chris problem!”

A panorama atop the morning hike. The terrain around Queenstown is quite dramatic.

I liked this shot on the way down.

The only thing that could make the scenery better is me!

Upon hiking for the entire morning for a total climb of just shy of 4000’, I treated myself to one of Queenstown’s more revered food spots - Fergburger. New Zealanders tend to put beets in their burger...it’s honestly not too bad.

In the afternoon, I did another hike up Queenstown Hill. This is a neat shot from the summit.

Pretty surroundings.

Queenstown in the distance.

A shot of the airport. It was really cool watching planes maneuvering through the mountains to land at this runway. On final approach, the view out of both sides of the aircraft are cliffs towering high above the plane.

On the way down from my hike, I took a quick shot of the city.

That night began the Queenstown Winter Festival. The opening ceremony featured local Maori who said a bunch of stuff I didn’t understand blessing the festival and finished with a Haka on stage. It was pretty sweet. Apparently, they canoed to shore and did a Haka with hundreds of people with flaming torches around them...I was a little late sadly, that would be incredible to see!

Cool boat on a morning hike. The morning before I was hiking on the mountains behind the boat.

Another boat.

Nice view from that bench.

I took a quick trip to Arrowtown - a nearby historical town. I didn’t last long here...not my cup of tea.

This is more like it! I came back to see a dodgeball tournament being held in the center of town as part of the Winter Festival. The best part was the commentary by some locals...hilarious!

Took a Jet Boat ride through a narrow river - pretty fun way to see the lake!

Look at that stud!

Night time view of Queenstown

As part of the Winter Festival, they had a fireworks show in the bay. It was pretty fun!

More fireworks

Concert by some famous New Zealand singer. Everyone seemed to know his songs but I’d never heard of them. Come to think of it...that might mean he’s very famous everywhere else too!

That’s him.

The second half of my trip started with the biggest risk that I will likely take on the entire trip - driving a car with right hand drive on the left side of the road. It mostly went fine after a quick adjustment period. The most nerve-racking part was the giant traffic circle that was very busy - at night - with five different exits and entrances. Fun stuff! It was also a weird experience having to scrape your windows in late June!

One last shot before heading off for Mt. Cook and Christchurch. I very much enjoyed Queenstown - especially coming at just the right time for the Winter Festival - it made for a lot more easy and cheap stuff to do (and yes, I did plan that...this is why it takes me forever to make plans, you’ve got to figure out what’s happening in every town).

The drive away from Queenstown to Mt. Cook was very beautiful

Stopped off at a town named Wanaka...there was a group of kids playing rugby. Pretty fun to watch while listening to the parents complain about the ref - some things cross cultural boundaries.

Wanaka - like many of the towns on the South Island of New Zealand sits next to a beautifully clear mountain lake.

Panorama of said lake

Lindis Pass between Queenstown and Mt. Cook. Unlike driving in the states, there was almost never anything other than a two lane road. Many of the bridges were only one lane, with helpful signs telling you which lane is to give way. Neat experience.

This reminded me of a desktop background on a computer.

Mt. Cook National Park - home to Mt. Cook, the largest mountain in New Zealand. On the first full day that I was there, I went for a little hike. I was initially only going to do the first half of the hike, as the internet and signs around the park strongly suggested someone of my equipment and experience not try the full hike to Mueller’s Hut. As you will see, my stubbornness won out! The first 2000’ of the hike were up stairs. This was fine at first...then the steps began getting icy. This is called “foreshadowing”.

Higher up, a little more snow and ice.

There’s always time for a selfie on a fun hike.

At the halfway point, the ground was pretty well covered with a few inches of snow. This nice picnic table was set up and there was a great view. Problem was...there was more mountain left that I hadn’t climbed. It didn’t look like too big a deal (Narrator: It was a big deal...)

The last 2000’ feet of the climb traded steps for several feet of snow and ice. There were a few moments when I thought about turning around...but again - stubborn!

After an hour or so of pushing through highly steep cliffs and a huge amount of snow, I caught a glance of my goal - Mueller Hut! It looked pretty close at this point...turns out that it’s still quite a hike when the snow is almost coming up to your knees for every step.

Proof that I made it! The hut was pretty neat...run by the NZ Government for hikers. Bunks, water (when it isn’t frozen), and ovens (BYOGas). No heat of course. I would have stuck around longer, but my socks and shoes were soaked and frozen...I wasn’t too interested in getting frostbite so I headed down quick.

Everywhere you looked, the view was absolutely incredible! These mountains were used in Lord of the Rings for epic mountain shots.