Wellington to Queenstown via Christchurch
December 22, 2016
Last year we drove right up to the top of the North Island, this year we're heading deep down south. The plan was to fly into Queenstown, complete two Great Walks with a short rest in the Catlins in between. We bought one checked bag with a 23 kg weight limit and I had been worrying about our luggage as we were going to check in two bags. (Other airlines allow multiple bags as long you don't exceed the total weight limit but not Air NZ). Checked in a box of camping gear and food and it was about 18.6 kg. I was relieved when I managed to check in the foldable mattress as well (yes we use it as our "bed" during camping). Had to leave our pillows and blankets behind in the car as carry on baggage was already 8-10 kg. The flight to Christchurch flew past Kaikoura and the flight to Queenstown was even more beautiful with the snow capped alps, blue lakes and large tracts of neat and tidy rural land visible from the air.
After doing the sums, it's cheaper to rent a car only after we've finished the Routeburn Track; it's not a loop track so a shuttle is required to return to the carpark and further the car will not be utilized for three days. The tradeoff is we would have to put up with some logistical inconvenience on the first day. So we heaved all our bags onto the yellow bus from Queenstown airport to town, and hauled them (the box was heavy, slippery and difficult to carry) from town to YHA Queenstown Central. After dropping them off at the hostel, we had lunch at Bespoke Kitchen which fell short of expectation. I had a bit of diarrhea after having their lamb burger. Went back to pack our bags for the big walk tomorrow and moved the rest of our baggage to YHA Queenstown Lakefront (10 mins walk from central) in order to store luggage for free. I only learned of this after I did the booking. The shuttle pick up tomorrow morning is just across the road from their central branch anyway.
Back in Queenstown
After sorting our luggage, we picked up our hut tickets at DOC visitor centre, walked around town and found a promising Korean place to have dinner. That was abit disappointing as well. I had pork bone potato soup but it wasn't salty and spicy enough.
View from YHA Queenstown Central
We were in a 4 bed ensuite (the shower water pressure was very poor and weak) with one other person only so managed to have a quiet night with no snores.
After doing the sums, it's cheaper to rent a car only after we've finished the Routeburn Track; it's not a loop track so a shuttle is required to return to the carpark and further the car will not be utilized for three days. The tradeoff is we would have to put up with some logistical inconvenience on the first day. So we heaved all our bags onto the yellow bus from Queenstown airport to town, and hauled them (the box was heavy, slippery and difficult to carry) from town to YHA Queenstown Central. After dropping them off at the hostel, we had lunch at Bespoke Kitchen which fell short of expectation. I had a bit of diarrhea after having their lamb burger. Went back to pack our bags for the big walk tomorrow and moved the rest of our baggage to YHA Queenstown Lakefront (10 mins walk from central) in order to store luggage for free. I only learned of this after I did the booking. The shuttle pick up tomorrow morning is just across the road from their central branch anyway.
Back in Queenstown
After sorting our luggage, we picked up our hut tickets at DOC visitor centre, walked around town and found a promising Korean place to have dinner. That was abit disappointing as well. I had pork bone potato soup but it wasn't salty and spicy enough.
View from YHA Queenstown Central
We were in a 4 bed ensuite (the shower water pressure was very poor and weak) with one other person only so managed to have a quiet night with no snores.
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