Penultimate day of the trip (because the word penultimate is great)
January 16, 2024. Queenstown to Auckland
Last day in Queenstown. Woke to the gorgeous view, then ventured out to get us breakfast from a nearby bakery.
I took one more hike on the trail I love before we headed to the airport for Auckland part two.
I lucked out and was seated on the left (west) side of the plane and had great views of the coast for the whole flight. Extra amazing bonus was flying over the volcano featured on the front of the Lonely Planet guidebook I’d been carrying this whole trip, Mount Taranaki. Classic volcano like a kid would draw. I wanted to visit in real life but couldn’t fit it in this time. I don’t want to trash talk people who shut their shades to watch a movie, but WTF – we are flying and there are so many sights you will never get to see on a normal day during your normal life. <cough> Volcano! </cough>
Our hotel in Auckland, the SO/ (we were never sure how to pronounce it so we called it the Soy because of that silly slash) is very masculine. I’ve never thought of hotels having a gender, other than bed and breakfasts. This one was tall, dark, brooding, good-looking, but also aloof and unfriendly. We were greeted by some expensive-ass car (Bentley? Rolls? I forget) parked by the front doors with a custom license plate referencing the hotel and two large stone lion statues. My eyes began to roll. The lobby was self-consciously over-decorated in a Philippe Stark 1990’s way, all black reflective stone and mirrors and a huge, awkwardly placed chandelier (20 feet around and nearly touching the floor), a couch tipped up on its side, tuffets with fringe, neon, leather armchairs. I dunno. It felt like a rich kid trying to be cool and failing. The layout was wrong for fun. Great for a quick Instagram snapshot, then move on.
Our room was also dark and brooding, with the exception of the bright gold sinks. Bleck. The swirly O design element running through the space felt like it had been added so that a hotelier could walk a reporter from Architectural Digest around and say, “We aren’t some crappy chain, we are a boutique hotel. Look, here is our custom swirl! It’s on the wall, on the pillows, and carved into the door handle. It’s art!” Pretensions aside, it was a nice room with a great view.
We went up to the roof bar for a drink. Not actually on the roof, but close, and the outdoor patio featured the gale-force winds we’ve come to expect here in New Zealand. The place was dead other than an awkward work event featuring a herd of men in suits and a lone woman in stilettos. Go Barbara!
Later, we had a fun dinner at Dr. Rudi’s Rooftop Brewing Company, this time really on a roof and overlooking a harbor. Pretty sunset and great people watching. The large table across from us was sparsely occupied by two pretty young women wearing tons of makeup and high-heeled boots–both worried that no one was going to show up for the birthday drinks. I was worried too, after an hour passed. A handful did finally arrive, though it clearly wasn’t what the birthday girl had hoped for.
We had a good dinner and watched the sun set, then headed back to our pompous hotel for a good night’s sleep.
Another Gondola!
January 14, 2024. Queenstown, NZ.
We had rain early in the morning and when it let up I went for a walk on the same trail I’d taken last night. This time, everything was dewy and fresh and tiny streams and waterfalls gushed down the hillsides. Very pretty and fresh.
The entire shoreline of lake Wakatipu is covered with rocks like these. I was in seventh heaven.
Today was explore-the-town day. The place had a ski town vibe (sports stores, bars) because it is a ski town, with several nearby resorts. A staffer at our hotel declared it “not busy” at this time of year, but it sure looked busy to me.
First stop, the gondola. This one was very steep, and as usual overpriced. All trees beneath the cables had fallen or been felled, many remaining uncleared, and I saw evidence of ruined stairways. I read there’d been a landslide a few years ago. I’d done a deep dive last night trying to figure out what kind of rocks lined the lake and ended up on a technical paper about the geology of the area. Good, stable land had all been built on years ago, and as the town expanded with “pressure for residential expansion,” developers began building on unstable ground.
“The steep slopes surrounding the Queenstown area are predisposed to instability due to inherent weakness of the Otago Schist due to lithotype variation, foliation attitude, foliation shears, and rock mass discontinuities.”
Hmmmmm. I wondered if the trees, which had been planted by humans, might actually be destabilizing the hills with their roots.
The view up top was good though no real surprises. I’d gotten a sense of the place from the plane trip in, my hikes, and the view from our room.
Back on the ground, a surprise! Goats in a cemetery! I investigated later and discovered they have a problem with flocks(?) of wild goats.
This picture has it all. Historic cemetery, evidence of the landslide, and feral goats.
We had a late lunch at a really good tapas place, but oh my gosh, the wind. Blow the bread basket off the table level wind. What is up with the wind in New Zealand?
Tonight–early to bed as we have to get up at an un-vacationly-early time tomorrow for the Milford Sound tour (which I am really excited for.)
Roadtripz and Other Journeys 