New Zealand. The land further down under and home of the Lord of The Rings.

But before I jump straight into the first couple days of our new adventure, let me give you a brief backstory of our choice to travel here.

Sanna and I decided to make a trip somewhere during the Easter Break since we already had a few days off and could extend the break with some annual leave.

For destinations, we were choosing between Perth and Western Australia; Queensland or New Zealand. Those were good options to have to be honest.

We went with NZ because Western Australia was nice but the South Island of NZ was a little more enticing. Also, even though we would love to see Queensland and the Barrier Reef, I am from tropical Florida and can enjoy the same climate and coral reefs of the Florida Keys and the Caribbean. We do miss the cute quokka of WA but some sacrifices had to be made.

It is a luxurious problem to have such options but New Zealand was a whole new country to explore.

Now, on to the highlights of our arrival and first two whole days.

We had an afternoon flight so we arrived in the evening. Wasn’t ideal, but this made the plane ticket cheaper so we will take it.

The flight was very uneventful, which is always great. I am a firm believer of uneventful flights over “eventful” flights. But we had amazing views of the ground from above.

We passed through security and immigration in Queenstown Airport with ease. Sanna’s was smoother than mine to be frank. We went through different queues due to our nationalities. I say Sanna had it better because her queue was shorter and she was able to get a stamp in her passport. I love getting stamps in my passport but was not able to this time because of an agreement between NZ and the USA (ePassport).

Because of the time we arrived, we just had time to get to our accommodation and have dinner. We went to the famous Fergburger. I can say without a doubt that I had one of the best burgers in my lifetime there. If you make it to this side of the world, then you must give it a go. There is always a long line to get a meal so they are doing something right. Beyond that, we quickly went back to our place for the night and slept.

The next day we spent in Queenstown. We got up and had a simple breakfast and went into town. Queenstown is a nice small town known for skiing in the winter and outdoor sports in the summer.

We first stopped by the Kiwi and Birdlife Park. This place is a park plus a wildlife conservation effort. We were able to see some of the native birds including the well known Kiwi.

Interesting takeaway from a presentation of different animals are the showing of animals non-indigenous to New Zealand and considered pests. One of the animals was the cute possum from Australia. The possum has been such a nuisance to the natural environment that we were advised (encouraged even) to not swerve around them with our cars, but to kill them. Also, the purchase of possum fur was requested of us as this will incentive the trapping of invasive possums.

So we did. We did our part for the protection of New Zealand and its wildlife by buying two pairs of gloves and a hat made from Merino wool with possum fur. Possum fur is very soft and warm. Also, Sanna found a nice tea towel with Kiwis on it.

We went into central Queenstown and had lunch before meandering around in combination with some window shopping. While exploring I found a nice sports shop. If you don’t know already, I collect sports scarves and/or memorabilia from my travels. So naturally, I had to get myself a scarf representing the New Zealand Rugby Team or the “All Blacks”. Also, I am quite nerdy and I collect currencies of the countries I travel. So I made sure I immediately saved a five dollar bill for my ever growing collection.

We did a quick walk around the Queenstown Gardens which had a impressive rose garden, different types of trees and great views of the surrounding mountain side.

Honestly we just enjoyed the views of the town and people. The weather was cool but sunny. Later that day after dinner, we treated ourselves to cookies from the Cookie Bar. Triple chocolate cookie for Sanna and a white chocolate and macadamia nut cookie for me. After dessert with tea, we turned in for the night.

This morning was the first day we would drive in the country. Also, today is the only scheduled activity so far. We planned to take the last cruise for the day of Milford Sound. The drive would be over three hours from Queenstown. So in other words, we were on a tight schedule. We backtracked to the airport to pick up our vehicle and quickly hit the road. I essentially did what I could without speeding to get us to Milford Sound in time. To our luck we made it in time for a quick lunch before speed walking to the dock.

Milford Sound. Actually it is not a sound but a fjord. Lesson number 1. Lesson number 2, Milford sound is the wettest place on earth at sea level.

I can not explain the beauty of the place. I hope the pictures do Milford Sound justice. While driving down to the port and during the cruise, it was rainy and windy. However, the weather added to the lure and mystique of the place. Milford Sound and the surrounding area and park has to be one of the most stunning places I have ever seen.

After the cruise, we enjoyed the ride back to the village of Te Anau for night. You will see in the pictures below that we got a very small setup but it will do.

I am writing this now after dinner and about to retire for the night but tomorrow should nice with more amazing vistas while driving up to Franz Josef Glacier.