Did the tram up the hill in Queenstown and hiked down. Beautiful views and recommended.
The only thing I really wanted to do this trip was go to Milford Sound. The rest was just check out whatever we felt like. Didn’t really have time to plan in the states and brought a few guidebooks. This was one of the points that appeared not to impress the immigration officer. The road to Milford Sound was closed for the 3 days we were there, due to rain and rock slides, and I decided to splurge on the $400 a piece it takes for the 20 minute each way flight. Called the flight company the morning of the second day and they informed me they fly on visual rules and wouldn’t be flying today. I called back the next morning, and again they were cancelling all flights because of poor weather. This really impacted my head, as it was the one thing I really wanted to do and New Zealand isn’t a quick return trip. I had read a great synopsis by a race car driver named Stirling Moss, that stated the traits that made him a great race car driver were also traits that made him hard to live with. While I am not great race car driver, I certainly have character traits that make me hard to live with. My wife is a loving and patient woman and she allows me my space. I wasn’t sulking, but the over the top experience I was having up to this point was dampened. The Kiwi and Aussie spirit of “if it was meant to be, it would” hadn’t been absorbed into me. I did much better with it than I would have in the past and don’t feel like not getting to do the one thing I had planned after flying 11,000 miles took much away from the rest of this truly fantastic trip. I did learn I still have problems with acceptance of things out of my control, which looks silly as I type it, but is the truth. Any words of wisdom on how to deal with this if it presents itself again would be appreciated.
Ended up eating at FergBurger in Queenstown, which is super highly rated on TripAdvisor. I am not much of a burger guy, but decided to try it and it was wonderful. Started out in 2000, when it's hours were midnight to 5AM. Now open 8AM to 5AM at just about always a line.