Queenstown August 2012 - Queenstown: Arrival and Skiing 1 of 3

katherine and i visited queenstown, new zealand for our 28th wedding anniversary.  we stayed a week and had a great time in this small resort town (pop. about 10k but they say the area has 2-3 million visitors a year).  i skied a couple of times at a couple of nearby ski areas ("The Remarkables" and "Coronet Peak") - the snow was nice at the Remarkables but kind of slushy at the lower elevation Coronet.

the food was very good at most places including our hotel. we actually found a decent mexican restaurant (Sombreros) we ate at several times.  early in the week, katherine misplaced her rings so we went by the police station to report them lost (she later found them).  while we were there we ran into a guy who was picking up his passport after being arrested for attempting to use a friend's pass at Coronet Peak.  he's been banned from the NZ snow fields.  i have a shot of the article from the local paper below.

we took a bus/boat tour over to Milford Sound.  it was a sunny, cloudless day - perfect for the incredible mountain vistas we travelled trough and the cruise on the Sound.  (misnamed as it is a fjord and not a sound - that is, it was caused by glaciation and is not an old river bed filled by rising sea level).  the yearly rainfall on the east side of the mountain range we passed through to get to the Sound makes the area one of the wettest in the world (6-7m/year - yes, that's meters/year) while the west side is relatively dry - in the rain shadow.  we were lucky to get such a perfect day.

Flying in to NZ

View from our room (ski areas are off to the left)

Maori Te wero statue at the Queenstown police station

Maori Te wero story

We ran into this guy at the QT police station retrieving his passport

The police station had a collection of police patches from the US and around the world

Queenstown Harbor view

Queenstown harbor panarama

Maori piece in local gallery

The Remarkables from bus to ski area)

Approaching The Remarkables

Panarama view from the ski lodge at The Remarkables

On the slopes of the Remarkables

On the slopes of the Remarkables

Queenstown August 2012 - Milford Sound 2 of 3

Milford sound trip - A couple of scruffy Amero-Aussies on field where they filmed a Lord of the Rings battle scene

mountain reflections

NZ south island - map of Queenstown and Milford Sound - BUT we had to drive thru Te Anau to get there

panarama looking out thru the entrance to the Sound

Looking into the Sound

seals getting some Zs

Seals...

skirting some falls

Sound vista...

Sound panarama

 looking out toward Sound entrance

 Sound and sun

One of the Sound falls - detail

endangered flightless Kakapo parrot near Homer tunnel

vista near tunnel

--

j scott watters 

"everyone should believe in something, 
i believe i'll go fishing" thoreau

   jswatters@yahoo.com

Queenstown August 2012 - Queenstown and Skyline 3 of 3

  small Anglican church (parish of Wakatipu) in Queenstown

Queenstown Skyline gondola

Skyline panarama of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu

Queenstown and The Remarkables

mountain vistas

Kath with Remarkables

Scott with Queenstown below

 looking southwest along Lake Wakatipu

The Remarkables ski area from across valley along drive up to Coronet Peak ski area

Coronet Peak slopes near lodge

--

j scott watters 

"everyone should believe in something, 
i believe i'll go fishing" thoreau

   jswatters@yahoo.com