Known as the adventure capital of the world, New Zealand’s snow dusted mountain ranges, icey-blue lakes and grass covered valleys all set the scene for a beautiful, adrenaline filled week. From jet boating to heli-boarding to paragliding to luging to hiking and wine-ing (hey drinking wine can be an extreme sport if you make it) we certainly took advantage of every activity we could get our hands on.
Truthfully, Queenstown might be the most beautiful place we have ever been, with the entire country looking like it’s out of a movie. And in fact it is. Movie producers have been using Queenstown as a backdrop for years, with hits like The Lord of the Rings series, The Wolverine, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and Mission Impossible 6 all being filmed in Queenstown’s backyard.
As our wine tour guide would say, in Queenstown you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to great places to eat & drink. The picturesque ski town is home to awesome restaurants, boutique clothing stores and ski shops left and right. Throughout our week here, we were amazed by the number of stories we heard of people who visited here and loved it so much they decided to stay.
Lastly, our timing could not have been better, with the Rugby World Cup taking place while we were on this side of the world. New Zealand is home to the best team in the world—The All Blacks—and lets just say there is nothing more patriotic than watching the All Blacks play with Kiwis (the nickname for New Zealanders) .
Matt: Heli-boarding
Erin: Shotover boat
Marisa: Wine tasting
Garden Courts Inn & Suites
Paragliding with Coronet Peak Tandem
Heli-boarding with Harris Mountain Heli-ski
Shotover boat with Go Orange
Wine tour with Altitude Wine Tours where we visited Gibston Valley, Kinross, Mt Rosa and Cargo Brewery
Gondala and luge with Skyline New Zealand
Day trip to Glenorchy- driving on the wrong side of the road was a crazy experience
Breakfast: Halo
Lunch & Dinner:
Fergburger: awesome burgers that were definitely worth the wait
Public House Kitchen: cute spot along Lake Wakatipu
White and Wong: great Asian fusion that was served tapas style
The Cow
Dessert: we loved The Cookie Bar and Patagonia Bakery gelato
