When we landed in Queenstown airport and stepped out on the tarmac and gazed around at the green meadows and the jagged peaks of the Remarkables rising up above us, Vivian took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she said “If Australia is Tom Holland, then New Zealand is Chris Hemsworth”. Pause for five seconds to look around in awe again. Then “which is ironic because Chris Hemsworth is Australian.”
If you didn’t get that and I wouldn’t if Vivian hadn’t trained me, it means that Australia is nice to look at and New Zealand is gorgeous.
We spent two days in Queenstown. Our Airbnb apartment that I booked just before departing Sydney had an amazing view of the lake and mountains in front. We met Rajeeta and Gunaraj for dinner. The next morning we drove up to the two nearby ski places for the view. The wind almost blew us off Coronet Peak and it snowed on us at the Remarkables. The kids found it hilarious that this was summer in New Zealand. That evening Evan convinced us to spend some time in a fully immersive VR game where we shot zombies.
We could have spent a couple of weeks in Queenstown. And we didn’t venture towards Milford Sound, New Zealand’s most picture prefect spot, because we didn’t have enough time. You travel for a whole year and still your most scarce resource is time.
Notes from Dad 