Hey guys I thought I'd update my travel blog with our trip to New Zealand last Christmas 2022 to catch up with my travel stories! So last December 24, M and I spent our Christmas in Queenstown, I really wanted to hike up the glaciers so we flew even if the price is a bit steeper since it's the holiday season. We flew with Virgin Australia because we have a lot of points with that airline so got a bit of discount, still our flights were expensive around $1200 each. Regardless, I honestly enjoyed this trip. I really enjoy exploring new places and I think it may be my new thing, to spend Christmas somewhere that's not your home country! I love the Queenstown vibe, there were a lot of people walking in the town, music playing on the street, people being cheery (even we were wearing Santa hats!) there's just something about holidaying on Christmas in a new place.
Anyway this was our itinerary, on arrival Dec 24, we were just in Queenstown exploring the small town. It's M's first time here but I've been here with my mom and aunties last 2019.
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| Airports are literally my happy place! |
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| This was a huge tree at Queenstown Gardens! I love how it branches out, kind of looks like one of those magical trees in the Game of thrones. |
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| Over looking Lake Wakatipu! |
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| December is supposedly summer but hey it was really chilly! |
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| My happy jumpshot with the dog statue. |
The next day it was Christmas! Our itinerary was to wear Santa hats and drive to Glenorchy, Isengard Lookout (where Lord of the Rings were filmed!) and just driving on famous lookouts near Queenstown.
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| Merry Christmas! As most restaurants were closed, our breakfast was Jin Ramen! |
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| This area was one of the places where Lord of the Rings were filmed. |
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| It ain't Christmas without Santa hats! |
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Still sporting that Santa hat! We're both wearing matching Pikachu shirts!
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| I forgot which lookout this was but you'll pass this by when you drive to Glenorchy |
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| Glenorchy's famous hut |
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Amazing snow capped mountain views despite summer!
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The next day it was my looong drive to Franz Josef glacier which was for me the highlight of this trip. From Queenstown it is 350km, so roughly around 5 hours drive! I managed to survive the drive by myself however with a few popular stopovers! We stopped by Wanaka Lavender farm, Lake Wanaka, Wanaka tree, Fantail Fails and trekked the Blue pools track before arriving to our hotel in Franz Josef.
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| Fantail Falls, no trek just a short walk from the car park! |
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| This is the Blue pools track, the photo don't do justice you must absolutely trek this, It's only 5km return and the pools were clear and blue as the skies! |
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| Suspension bridge in the blue pools |
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| December is lavender season so we went on full bloom! |
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| Wish I could actually try and drive a tractor! |
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| After 5 gruelling hours, we finally reached our accommodation in Franz Josef! |
By the way we stayed at Rainforest Deluxe which has a kind of tree house retreat vibe. They also accept campervans if you hired one but I recommend their log cabin tree lodges. It was really cozy and makes you feel relaxed and you have a private veranda with trees surrounding you.
More info here - https://rainforest.nz/retreat/
The next morning, we did a few hikes. Went to Lake Matheson which was supposed to be a mirror lake however it was windy that day so that didn't manifest. We also trekked the nearby glacier town, Fox Glacier. I was supposed to book the heli hike on Fox Glacier as I saw there was a lot more ice caves on the path however we were sold out! Can you believe we were booking this during October and all the heli hikes were fully booked already. I was lucky to find 2 last spots scheduled Dec 28 on Franz Josef, so on this day, was our heli hike glacier hike plus the 5 hour drive back to Queenstown! Oh my poor legs.
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| 2nd time in a helicopter! Our first ride was in Cairns, overlooking the Great Barrier reef! |
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| That's franz josef glacier, it's already shrinking and moving fast. 10 years ago, those rocks you see were still filled with ice. Global warming is slowly melting our ice. |
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| Selfie closeup with the ice! |
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| If you fall ... not sure how deep this is. |
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| We were lucky as the sun was out! We were required to wear sunglasses as the sun can blind you if it reflected on the ice! |
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| We were all wearing crampons, those are metal claws attached to your shoes to prevent slipping. |
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| M had to buy her sunglasses in the shop in Queenstown for $10 as she forgot hers! |
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| Full tour! |
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| Clawing my way in! |
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| It was a good 2 hour trek, the heli hike tour costs around $600 per person but it is worth it! |
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| Most unforgettable experience for me this 2022. Certainly worth repeating! Next time, I might do Fox Glacier too! |
On our way back to Queenstown, we also stopped by at Thundercreek falls and had late lunch at Fox Glacier. The tour started at 10am and ended at 2pm. So by the time we arrived in Queenstown it was already 7pm however since it's summer, sun was still out. :)
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| Thundercreek falls |
The next day we have a chill itinerary. We went to Arrowtown which is a short drive from Queenstown then we had a good dinner at Stratosfare which is a restaurant on top. You ride the cable car for an overlooking view.
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| Arrowtown is a small cozy town, it has a small mining town vibe. |
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| Bought this famous cookies at Queenstown! Cookie time! |
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| Arrowtown museum. |
The next day was our flight back to Sydney but we have one final stop, which is Onsen hot pools! It is a hot spa near Queenstown overlooking the river where they do the shotover jet! I also highly recommended going here, we booked an hour spa and they give you welcome drink and snack for the price of $165 for two on an outdoor private spa room.
More info here - https://www.onsen.co.nz/
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| After the long drives, time to relax :) |
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| M enjoying the view and spa |
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| This is the river where they do the highspeed jet! |
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| What are you thinking about? |
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| You can adjust the water temperature, lighting and also a moving roof! |
After a relaxing spa we headed to the airport for our flight back to Sydney. We also picked up Bingo who seemed to have the time of his life at Central Coast!
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| His petsitter M and family always take Bingo to their beach trips! |
As I mentioned at the start of this blog, I found a new hobby (spending christmases around the globe!) so I'm thinking where to spend Christmas in 2024. This 2023 christmas, M's sister is coming to Australia so we'll just do a drive to Port Macquarie. We haven't been there but we did drive to Byron Bay before so we passed by there.
Remember, life is a journey and sometimes the best gifts are found when you are on the move!
My next post will be my impromptu Japan trip last March!
