On to the Adventure Capital

Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkables

Friday, January 13, 2012

Queenstown, New Zealand, according to one travel magazine, “is recognised as New Zealand’s premier visitor destination and ‘the Adventure Capital of the World.’  It is a beautiful setting  . . . on the shores of Lake Wakatipu with the Remarkables in the background.  The only problem today was that the city was overcast with clouds and it rained just about all day.  According to some, it was the first rainy day since Christmas.  If that is true, it explains why the locals were happy with it.  

"Stay on the left!"

We flew out of Auckland on a Jetstar flight that took about two hours before we flew down through the fogs and clouds and landed in Queenstown.  The flight pattern to the airport was pretty remarkable as we came down a narrow canyon and touched down on a short runway.  This time around we didn’t see much of Queenstown - we’re returning in a couple of weeks.

Today it was off to the Omega Car Rental office, a two minute drive from the airport.  Queenstown probably has elements and similarities to towns in a similar setting in the U. S.  Jackson Hole, Aspen, Lake Tahoe and Sedona come to mind.  There is activity here year-round with sports of all kinds.  The rental car guy came here from Australia to enjoy snowboarding.  

The pedals are the same, but the turn signal moved

Today’s big adventure was driving from the right-hand driver’s seat on the left hand of the road.   Driving wasn’t so bad.  Remembering where the turn signal is was a struggle.  (It’s on the right side.)  I kept signaling with the wiper control.  It seems strange to see cars coming towards in the right lane and I’m thinking, “oh man, they’re coming right at me.”  Making turns is also tricky.  The person on the right always has the right-of-way.  Left turns are easy here, just like right turns are easier in the US.  The right turns make you think carefully.  And it helps to have a back seat driver reminding you to “slow down, stay over to the left, watch out for oncoming traffic, don’t take your eyes off the road, keep both hands on the wheel,” and other words of wisdom, admonition and encouragement.

Wyndham Resort, Wanaka

We drove from Queenstown to Wanaka, where we are staying for a week.  It rained all day here also.  The road took us up over a mountain range and through a small town named Cardrona.  In places there were sharp switchbacks and it other places it was too foggy to see the scenery (which is probably good if you’re driving in a strange place on the left side of the road.)

We registered and got settled into our room before heading off for dinner.  Sandra enjoyed lamb and I “experienced” pork ribs.  Very delicious.  We shared deep fried ice cream balls covered with shredded coconut for dessert.  Before dinner we shopped for groceries at the New World Supermarket.  That could be the subject of another entry.