car necessary in queenstown?
Was debating if I was going to drive to Mount Cook or just take a guided tour
Are you comfortable driving on the left?
The dull answer is it depends on what you’re doing. The town itself is pretty small; dinner should be easily walkable. I don’t know the details if you want to do adrenaline-related activities nearby.
We were able to get an Uber back from Amisfield winery at 10PM at night (15 min drive) no problem.
We had a car for 2 weeks in the country so we were more apt to say, while in Queenstown, “hey, let’s head over to Arrowtown or Cardrona or whatever”
Yeah, I think you need a car. Way more flexibility. We did it the opposite way, Mt Cook to Wanaka and onto Queenstown. Car was necessary.
won’t know till I try it alan!
I found it much easier than in England due to wider roads.
Just wondered if you’ve done it before. Much easier to do in a less crowded, rural area than driving out of Heathrow and onto the M25 first time out lol. Just remember to tell yourself “drive on the left” every time you get in the car. And try not to embarrass yourself going to the left side of the car at the rental agency 
been there, done that.
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yeah everything we’ll be doing is outdoorsy stuff. But if Uber/Buses work fine I think I’ll avoid driving. Stil thinking on it. Leave Monday!
I found it easy to remember to drive on the wrong side of the road because the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car! A tip to keep centered in your lane is to angle the mirror on the passenger down a little so you can use the mirror to see the stripe on the edge of the road/lane.
The actual driving, and staying in your lane, is no big deal. Making turns, handling roundabouts, on and off-ramps are where it was scary for me the first time I drove on the left. I can still remember somehow making it onto the motorway, then passing by my exit, and two or three more before I got up the courage to get off and deal with. Basically, I just followed the guy in front of me most of time lol.
Looking forward to your report when you get back Charlie.
I’ve gotten buried at work and will get back to planning this next week.
An outdoorsy trip for us too. Next December. I’m thinking we will fly to Auckland then quickly to Queenstown. I need to decide how many nights in the Queenstown area and if we need to book a night or 2 a bit farther up north or just make the Queenstown area out base for 5/6 days. My wife and son live to hike so it will be a week of hiking and sightseeing. Nice restaurants in the evening.
I would like to fly back to Auckland after all of that and spend 36 hours or so. See the city, the harbor, and a nice restaurant before we head back to LAX.
Went in 2016 to Queenstown. Random Highlights were Ben Lamond day hike, king salmon (cooked at the house) and Pedro’s House of Lamb (takeout). Memorable cellar doors: Rippon, Burn Cottage, Valli and Felton Road.
follow me on Instagram for updates! instagram.com/clayfu.wine
will try and do a trip report here afterwards
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I know Wellington is on the north island, but it was mentioned upstream. The New York Times featured the city this weekend in 36 Hours.
car rentals are $300 a day right now. Guess I’m taking ubers!
Day 4. Only turned into the right lane once. Still alive.
When I head home I’m going to let everyone know how hard it is for me to now to drive on the right side of the road
Nice work Mr fu, enjoy NZ bro, Chur. 
say hi to Dan for me here in Sydney if you guys catch up
Hey, it’s actually a thing
Have fun!
Wait till you have been back about 3 days, you will find you really can’t remember which side to drive on. Best to head straight down the middle at that point.
I just back from the South Island of New Zealand. Ended up mis-connecting in SFO and my trip got cut by 24 hours… I ended up rejiggering my flights and flew into Blenheim. I was tired so I just drove through the Marlbourough wine regions. Stayed 2 nights in Kaikoura. Stayed at the Hapuku Lodge which included a very nice dinner each night. Kaikoura one of the places you can see Sperm Whales – so did that and also saw different Albatross and Dolphin species.
From there I drove to Christchurch for a night at the George. On the way I stopped for a tasting at Pegasus Bay. Beautiful grounds… wines were okay. Rieslings were the highlight. Agree with the need to book dinner.
Ended up at Fiddlesticks Restaurant which was fine.
The next day I took the Tranz-Alpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth. Lots of interesting towns and hiking on the west coast. Drove to Franz Joseph where I spent 2 nights at Te Waonui. They had an excelllent resturant I ate at one night. The next night I ate at Alice May which was one of the few choices and mobbed. An easy pass.
The next day I had a long drive from Franz Jopsef up the coast and accross the mountains to Queenstown and then Glenorchy. Lots of stope for hiking and sightseeing. Did Fantail Falls, Blue Pools, Arrowtown, Cardona.
I splurged for a 2 night stay a Blanket Bay. One of the top hotel experiences I have had and worth the tarriff.
Excellent food. Unfortunately the weather got bad and all of my excursions to Milford Sound were cancelled…
My final day I drove and did a tasting at Amisfield and Chard Farm. The highlight was the 2009 Tiger Vineyard Pinot from Chard Farm that the tasting room person pulled from under the bar when the room cleared out. Clearly these wines are better with some age.
Drove the airport, ditched the car and my flight was cancelled 5 minutes before boarding (high winds prevented the inbound from landing). After spending more than an hour in line I realized I was staying an extra night in Queenstown. Was lucky to snag one of the few remaing rooms and spent hours on the phone between NZ and UA to get home… late dinner at Finz.
Flew to Aukland in the morning and stayed at the Park Hyatt. Dinner at White and Wongs.
The next morning I found out there is a shortage of jet fuel currently in NZ. Had to make a technical stop in Honolulu to refeul and change crews.
All in all a great trip. Would echo the worker shortage there. Plenty of businesses in tourist locations have not been able to reopen. Driving on the left was easy (except for all the one lane bridges).
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