We made the drive from Milford Sound back to Queenstown and settled into our hotel and man, what a hotel. Some of the girls I was traveling with like nice things, and as such they found a lovely hotel at a great rate via last minute online deals. We had a few more bodies in the room than we paid for, but that’s how you make things affordable. We were at the Rydges and our room looked out onto Lake Wakatipu because this is how we like to roll. I tend to think that anywhere else this view would be spectacular but, and don’t get me wrong because it was, in New Zealand it’s almost expected.
Queenstown is the tourist hub of New Zealand and probably most known for its outdoor adventure activities. If you can ride it, sail it, drive it, jump out of or off of it, you can do it in Queenstown. The city itself feels very touristy, and caters to such with more bars, restaurants and stores than I care to count. It’s a nice place to visit, but I don’t know how long I could really call it home. We spent just about a day in town as we wanted to get out and see some more of the wilderness, and slow things down a notch, as we’d been going non-stop for a few days. After dropping two of our travel companions off at the airport in Queenstown, the remaining 4 of us hit the road for Queenstown’s little sister: Wanaka.
We rolled into Wanaka, on Lake Wanaka and ended up scoring a 4 bed dorm at this quaint little hostel that looked out over the lake. It was 8pm, but thankfully our southern location meant the sun didn’t set until almost 10pm, so we had plenty of time to grab some food and drinks and sit on the beach and go for a swim. It always blows my mind when I’m swimming at 9:30pm and the sun is still up. This was my first swim since Australia, and my first fresh water swim in 16 months.
After a short clean-up and nap we headed out to get a look at Wanaka at night. It wasn’t the most happening place in the country, but we did find this cool little bar down a back street sort of at the bottom of a driveway. It felt mildly pretentious inside for Wanaka, but outside on their patios, next to a large wood fire, it was nothing but enjoyable.
Wanaka is currently going through a building boom and word has it that it will be comparable to Queenstown in a few years. It’s a shame as Wanaka is a great laid back town a few hours from Queenstown. But hey, everyone deserves to make a few dollars from tourists, so it’s hard to get mad at the situation.
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