Glenorchy to Queenstown to Auckland to Vancouver to Abbotsford

Our last day in New Zealand this trip.  Five weeks seemed like a long time but somehow it has now been five weeks since we arrived.  I got up around 7am, but all was still quiet in the campground so I crept back into my warm sleeping bag and checked us in for our flights back.  We got up close to 7:30am, at which time two fleece tops were still required to be comfortable outside, and had our breakfast in the kitchen area plus made sandwiches for lunch.  We pretty much managed to finish all of our food and only had to donate some leftover spaghetti noodles, half a dozen nugget potatoes and some cans of sparkling water.  We found a home for our food container, brush and dust pan, and spare butane cartridge for our camp stove.  Once the sun rose above the mountains we were able to dry our tent fly and tarp, and packed everything away dry.  After organizing our bags and the cooler and taking a last shower before a long travel day we left the campground at around 11am. We stopped off at one lookout point on the way back to Queenstown, filled up the car and dropped it off at the car rental office near the airport in Frankton, the suburb where the airport is.  A shuttle took us to the airport where we checked our baggage and ate our sandwiches before heading for our gate.  

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The first part of the flight the views of Queenstown and surroundings were fantastic.  Don had the window seat and was identifying landmarks until the very northern part of the South Island when any views were finally obscured by clouds.  We landed in Auckland at around 5pm and walked the outside walkway to the international terminal.  As we determined in 2019, for an international airport the airport offers very little in the way of shops or food, especially after going through security.  We explored what there was and grabbed a bite, as our next flight leaves at 8pm and you never know when food is served next.  

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The first thing to appear on our phones in Auckland - which I will share with you now that we have safely arrived home - was an emergency alert about cyclone Gabrielle approaching Auckland which was a little unnerving seeing that we were to board a plane a few hours later.  Although we did experience some turbulence not long after taking off from Auckland, and a few more times after that, the flight was uneventful and we safely made it to Vancouver.  Shannon and Andrew were there to pick us up and drove us back to Abbotsford.  

And just like that, our five weeks in New Zealand are behind us. We can't wait for the next trip!

Breakfast in the kitchen

View towards Glenorchy from Bennets Bluff lookout viewpoint

View across Lake Wakatipu from the same viewpoint

Our plane to Auckland which was boarded from the tarmac

Queenstown

Queenstown across the lake

Queenstown including Frankton just below the tip of the wing

Wanaka and Lake Wanaka

Mt Cook area

Emergency alert received in Auckland

Invercargill to Glenorchy

The night was milder than the night before which made for a better night’s sleep. The first order of the day was to line up a place to stay in Queenstown. We checked online last night and all four holiday parks in or near Queenstown appeared to be fully booked. I phoned the holiday park we stayed at in 2019, the Top 10, and the campground in nearby Arrowtown as someone recommended, however, they confirmed they were full. I ended up finding and booking a site at a campground in Glenorchy which is a very small town about 45 kms and 45 minutes away from Queenstown at the very end of Lake Wakatipu, the very long lake Queenstown is located on as well.

The drive to Queenstown was smooth with the last part from Kingston on, along Lake Wakatipu with the mountain alongside the lake definitely scenic.  We picked up a last few groceries to supplement what we had and had a picnic lunch in a small park before reaching the centre of Queenstown.  It took a bit of searching to find a free parking spot but we found one on the road along the lake maybe half a kilometer from the centre of town.  I remember finding Queenstown too busy and too touristy in 2019.  This time, even though it was busy, it had the right vibe: it was alive, bustling with people either strolling around or sitting at a table on one of the many restaurant or pub patios.  The lively area is partially a pedestrian area, and is right on the lakeside where people boarded or enjoyed a ride in jet boats, on the steam boat or other boats.  We strolled, had some ice cream, did a little bit of souvenir shopping and sat down on the patio near the lake and enjoyed a New Zealand (Monteith's) beer (Don) and cider (Gwen).  After that we drove out to Glenorchy, a very scenic drive.  The campground, Mrs Woolly's Campground, far exceeded our expectation: rustic yet very nice with a fabulous covered outdoor kitchen, and full of other travellers.
 

Lake Watatipu looking towards Kingston

Queenstown

Queenstown gondola

Outdoor patios

Park and Saturday market

Pedestrian mall

Enjoying an icecream

Jetboat returning to the dock

Relaxing on an outdoor patio

LINK TO VIDEO: Singing dog

Pet peeve of New Zealanders: there are always traffic cones everywhere

Scenic drive to Glenorchy

Mrs Woolly's Campground

Don enjoying his steak

Gwen catching up on the blog

Portobello to Invercargill

After a cold night we got up around 7am and quickly headed for the more comfortable temperature of the kitchen and eating building.  By the time we had breakfast the outside temperature was much more agreeable and we packed up and headed for the northern tip of the Otago Peninsula where the only mainland royal albatross colony is located. There is no public access to the colony other than through the Royal Albatross Centre, operated by a conservation trust,  that monitors the colony and ensures the eggs have the best chance of hatching and the chicks have the best chance of making it to adulthood.  We booked the 10:30am tour and were given an introduction about the albatross, watched a short film and then walked up the hill to the observatory from which you can watch albatrosses (from behind glass) sitting on their nests and now and again fly over.  There was one nest in particular where the parent would now and again move and uncover the very white and fluffy chick it was sitting on.  Binoculars were provided and everybody had lots of time to watch and take pictures or shoot videos. The tour was an hour altogether and definitely worthwhile.  The royal albatross, with its impressive wingspan of three metres and e.g. its ability to fly incredible distances without touching land, is a fascinating bird.

Our next stop was New Zealand's only castle, Larnach Castle, which also located on the Otago Peninsula, a short and very scenic drive from the Royal Albatross Centre.  We just paid for access to the very nice gardens and strolled through them, while viewing the castle from the outside.  Larnach Castle a large mansion built in 1871 which fell into disrepair until it was purchased by a family in 1967 and restored.

The Catlins area a good hour south of Dunedin was our next destination for the day.  It is a very scenic  coastal area with lots of natural features worth seeing and opportunities to see wildlife.  We stopped at and walked to the Nugget Point lighthouse and after that stopped at nearby Roaring Bay where we walked to a hideout overlooking the beach.  There we waited for 20 minutes or so hoping to see yellow-eyed penguins come ashore for the night but even though they may come ashore as early as 4pm and we were there at at time, it likely was a little early for them to come home and we did not see any.  As we had limited time we only stopped at a number of the things to see, including at the Purakaunui Falls which were nice although they would have been even nicer with more water flowing down them.  Curio Bay was our stop after that.  There is a petrified forest which can be seen at low tide and there is a yellow-eyed penguin colony so penguins come ashore for the night here as well.  There is a DOC campground there as well with quite a few people staying in it.  The tide was still low enough for us to see the petrified forest which was nice.  Although by now it was close to 6:30pm and there were quite a few people patiently waiting for penguins to arrive, no penguins arrived during the 20 minutes or so we were there.  The Waipapa lighthouse was our final stop in the Catlins.  The Waipapa lighthouse was built following New Zealand's worst civilian shipwreck in which 131 of 151 passengers and crew died when the SS Tararua ran aground on the Waipapa Reef in 1881.  We walked to it and and also to some of the bent trees in the area, trees that have grown almost sideways as a result of the wind.

We ended up at a holiday park on the edge of Invercargill for the night where we pulled in just after 8:30pm and pitched our tent to the occasional sound of a nearby sheep bleating - very New Zealand.     

LINKS TO VIDEOS:

Albatross with sanctuary worker

Albatross flying over

Albatross on nest with chick

Albatross on nest with chick (2)

Shags on rocks

View towards Dunedin from sanctuary

Red-billed gull

Otago Peninsula

Larnach Castle

Dunedin

Of course there was a sheep where I took a picture of the view

Abbotsford!

Lighthouse at Nugget Point

The nuggets

Roaring Bay with hideout

Purakaunui Falls

Curio Bay with petrified forest

Lighthouse at Waipapa Point

Bent tree