SFO-AKL-SFO UA Polaris - The Shire, Mordor, Edoras & More
Nov 8, 2017, 9:46 pm
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: MRY - CNX - TXL
Programs: UA 1K / *G / Marriott PE / Expedia Gold+ / Hertz PC
Posts: 7,058
Air New Zealand WLG-CHC, Christchurch & Edoras
There's construction at the airport so I thought I missed the rental car turn off when I got into the lanes where you take a parking ticket. You do go through that and then follow the signs and to enter the rental return lot you insert the ticket you got at the main booth.
So I walk in through arrivals and up the escalator and as I am going back around to check-in I think "This looks like the terminal...those are gates...did I sneak in passed security??"
I was informed by the check-in agent that my flight did not have a security check. What a world!
The lounge was nice, had a little breakfast and coffee. Announcements made for passengers when to go down to the gates.
As a *G I guess I was allowed to select a premium seat at check-in which included the back few rows as the plane loads from the rear.
Saw this Uzbekistan Airways plane on landing which I thought was odd. Someone in another thread said it was doing KUL-CHC but I don't see that on their schedule.
By the time I got a coffee the bag was on the carousel. It took longer to walk across the check-in hall to the INTL area to get the car than it did to get the coffee and bag. I booked a "mid-size" and they upgraded me to a Holden Captiva with 16km on the odometer. A bit big for what I needed as I am driving so much I could have taken something with better gas mileage. Today going over Arthur's Pass it was a little sluggish on the pick up on some hills or when overtaking people.
Again just looked around on Expedia for a hotel and the Fyffe on Riccarton seemed like it had good reviews for a little motorlodge. The old coot when I checked in was hilarious and said that he would put up the Yankee flag and take down the "damn Pommy" one now that I checked in.
Someone had suggested to eat at Little High Street Eatery but it was pretty packed. Across the alley was Madam Woo's which was less busy and I enjoyed my little Malaysian feast.
After working out in the morning in a pretty industrial looking area (though full of business looking men) I had breakfast at Oddfellows.
The main reason for coming to Christchurch...visiting Edoras!
Hassle Free Tours seems to have the exclusive access for this as the actual filming location is still on a private farmer's ranch but I think also operates in conjunction with the Dept of Conservation. It's a full day being picked up about 9:15-45 and getting back around 6pm.
It's about 2-2.5h to actually get out past Mount Somers to the valley where Mount Sunday sits. They have it pretty well timed with stops for coffee/toilet and giving little bits of info along the way.
(by no means was it)
There is a little outpost of a holiday community at Lake Clearview and then you get into the dirt roads and other bits going back up into the mountains.
Doesn't look too tall being dwarfed by the other mountains (it is 600m, not sure what the base is) but from this photo it would take about 1 hour to hike to the top. The tour company has the concession with the owner to drive up the right hand side of it and just do a little 5 min walk to the summit.
Once at the top you have a perfect 360 view of where they built the Edoras set and did some of the shots off for Helm's Deep. From Tolkien's description it fit perfectly as Edoras sat on top of a lone hill in a wide and deep valley shielded by mountains with a braided river running past it.
After this they have a nice picnic lunch with champagne and then the drive back to town. The guy who drove/guided us actually worked on all LOTR and Hobbit movies along with other Peter Jackson films doing all the production audio capture on set.
The parking lot at the hotel was small and I wanted to have some drinks so I decided to find a place to walk to from the Fyffe and the menu at Rogues on Rothham (near the Westfield mall) seemed really good. Friendly servers and the wines were all great. It was just what I needed including the pizza to go.
There's construction at the airport so I thought I missed the rental car turn off when I got into the lanes where you take a parking ticket. You do go through that and then follow the signs and to enter the rental return lot you insert the ticket you got at the main booth.
So I walk in through arrivals and up the escalator and as I am going back around to check-in I think "This looks like the terminal...those are gates...did I sneak in passed security??"
I was informed by the check-in agent that my flight did not have a security check. What a world!
The lounge was nice, had a little breakfast and coffee. Announcements made for passengers when to go down to the gates.
As a *G I guess I was allowed to select a premium seat at check-in which included the back few rows as the plane loads from the rear.
Saw this Uzbekistan Airways plane on landing which I thought was odd. Someone in another thread said it was doing KUL-CHC but I don't see that on their schedule.
By the time I got a coffee the bag was on the carousel. It took longer to walk across the check-in hall to the INTL area to get the car than it did to get the coffee and bag. I booked a "mid-size" and they upgraded me to a Holden Captiva with 16km on the odometer. A bit big for what I needed as I am driving so much I could have taken something with better gas mileage. Today going over Arthur's Pass it was a little sluggish on the pick up on some hills or when overtaking people.
Again just looked around on Expedia for a hotel and the Fyffe on Riccarton seemed like it had good reviews for a little motorlodge. The old coot when I checked in was hilarious and said that he would put up the Yankee flag and take down the "damn Pommy" one now that I checked in.
Someone had suggested to eat at Little High Street Eatery but it was pretty packed. Across the alley was Madam Woo's which was less busy and I enjoyed my little Malaysian feast.
After working out in the morning in a pretty industrial looking area (though full of business looking men) I had breakfast at Oddfellows.
The main reason for coming to Christchurch...visiting Edoras!
Hassle Free Tours seems to have the exclusive access for this as the actual filming location is still on a private farmer's ranch but I think also operates in conjunction with the Dept of Conservation. It's a full day being picked up about 9:15-45 and getting back around 6pm.
It's about 2-2.5h to actually get out past Mount Somers to the valley where Mount Sunday sits. They have it pretty well timed with stops for coffee/toilet and giving little bits of info along the way.
(by no means was it)
There is a little outpost of a holiday community at Lake Clearview and then you get into the dirt roads and other bits going back up into the mountains.
Doesn't look too tall being dwarfed by the other mountains (it is 600m, not sure what the base is) but from this photo it would take about 1 hour to hike to the top. The tour company has the concession with the owner to drive up the right hand side of it and just do a little 5 min walk to the summit.
Once at the top you have a perfect 360 view of where they built the Edoras set and did some of the shots off for Helm's Deep. From Tolkien's description it fit perfectly as Edoras sat on top of a lone hill in a wide and deep valley shielded by mountains with a braided river running past it.
After this they have a nice picnic lunch with champagne and then the drive back to town. The guy who drove/guided us actually worked on all LOTR and Hobbit movies along with other Peter Jackson films doing all the production audio capture on set.
The parking lot at the hotel was small and I wanted to have some drinks so I decided to find a place to walk to from the Fyffe and the menu at Rogues on Rothham (near the Westfield mall) seemed really good. Friendly servers and the wines were all great. It was just what I needed including the pizza to go.
Nov 10, 2017, 10:41 pm
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: MRY - CNX - TXL
Programs: UA 1K / *G / Marriott PE / Expedia Gold+ / Hertz PC
Posts: 7,058
Arthur's Pass to Franz Josef Glacier
Now came the exciting part to go across the Southern Alps from Christchurch via Arthur's Pass down the west coast to Franz Josef Glacier.
On the way out of town (across from Crossfit Amandla, actually) I got my road fuel at Switch Espresso / Industrie Coffee
It's fun to see Google Maps to tell you not to make another turn for triple digit km's!
The drive was amazing. Sun was out, beautiful scenery, places to pull off and stop.
Getting to the actual small village of Arthur's Pass I took time to stop and get a pie.
Shortly outside of there you can pull off for the scenic lookout at the viaduct. Perhaps he liked the heat from the engine but I had a little kea poking around the car who soon found a friend.
This is when some weather started to roll in.
Not much from there until you get to Kumara and can't miss this beautiful hotel where you can stop and get food and coffee.
So I wasn't sure the exact resources in Franz Josef so I found a larger super market in Hokitika which was a beautiful town and where I stocked up 2h outside of FJ.
Immediately getting into FJ I knew it was a special little place. This hotel had the friendliest people working and the rooms were comfy with floor heaters and also heat lamps in the bathrooms. No limit wifi as well!
Snakebite Brewery does burgers and Asian food. I had the Penang curry which was good, but slightly adjacent to authentic.
I arrived in the storm and once I woke up the next morning to walk and get coffee I was hit right in the face with this. I didn't know I could see snow peaks from the actual town.
For my Tongariro Alpine Crossing getting canceled this must have been the consolation prize (thought the Crossing was the #1 thing on my list to do here). We had an absolutely perfect morning to do the glacier heli-hike.
I booked with Franz Josef Glacier Guides who are 1 of 2 operators. You can see in some glacier photos FJGG gets the right site of the glacier which has more crevasses and things to dip in and out of, the other outfitter is more flat and uniform never really "disappearing" into the glacier.
(tried to embed the videos from Twitter but didn't work.
http://moby.to/7aijme
http://moby.to/gyiria
http://moby.to/hqhk03
http://moby.to/ezmf29
http://moby.to/c6rw6d
http://moby.to/p2glyy
Start to finish the whole operation is well oiled and goes off without a hitch. You use their boots, crapons, over-trousers, jacket (if you want) and the red bag (you can't take your own). We had a good 3 1/4h on the ice.
The thing I realized the most on this was how much I am kicking myself in the butt when I was younger for never getting my pilot's license. My Dad has his plane and my Grandpa had his MD-500E that was my favorite thing (beat any limo going to prom); but, since I moved away to college/NY and my Grandpa became too old to fly they decided to sell it.
You also get free entry to the Glacier Hot Pools which are part of the FJGG outfit. 36 38 40c pools in a covered canopy.
It's a pretty full day starting at 9:45 and then finishing up around 2 or so. After lunch I thought about doing a hike but I just went to the pools and grabbed dinner at The Landing.
A really awesome place, I would come back again and do some hiking around here and maybe even one of the heli-ice climbs for a bit more adventure as the glacier walk was pretty tame.
Now came the exciting part to go across the Southern Alps from Christchurch via Arthur's Pass down the west coast to Franz Josef Glacier.
On the way out of town (across from Crossfit Amandla, actually) I got my road fuel at Switch Espresso / Industrie Coffee
It's fun to see Google Maps to tell you not to make another turn for triple digit km's!
The drive was amazing. Sun was out, beautiful scenery, places to pull off and stop.
Getting to the actual small village of Arthur's Pass I took time to stop and get a pie.
Shortly outside of there you can pull off for the scenic lookout at the viaduct. Perhaps he liked the heat from the engine but I had a little kea poking around the car who soon found a friend.
This is when some weather started to roll in.
Not much from there until you get to Kumara and can't miss this beautiful hotel where you can stop and get food and coffee.
So I wasn't sure the exact resources in Franz Josef so I found a larger super market in Hokitika which was a beautiful town and where I stocked up 2h outside of FJ.
Immediately getting into FJ I knew it was a special little place. This hotel had the friendliest people working and the rooms were comfy with floor heaters and also heat lamps in the bathrooms. No limit wifi as well!
Snakebite Brewery does burgers and Asian food. I had the Penang curry which was good, but slightly adjacent to authentic.
I arrived in the storm and once I woke up the next morning to walk and get coffee I was hit right in the face with this. I didn't know I could see snow peaks from the actual town.
For my Tongariro Alpine Crossing getting canceled this must have been the consolation prize (thought the Crossing was the #1 thing on my list to do here). We had an absolutely perfect morning to do the glacier heli-hike.
I booked with Franz Josef Glacier Guides who are 1 of 2 operators. You can see in some glacier photos FJGG gets the right site of the glacier which has more crevasses and things to dip in and out of, the other outfitter is more flat and uniform never really "disappearing" into the glacier.
(tried to embed the videos from Twitter but didn't work.
http://moby.to/7aijme
http://moby.to/gyiria
http://moby.to/hqhk03
http://moby.to/ezmf29
http://moby.to/c6rw6d
http://moby.to/p2glyy
Start to finish the whole operation is well oiled and goes off without a hitch. You use their boots, crapons, over-trousers, jacket (if you want) and the red bag (you can't take your own). We had a good 3 1/4h on the ice.
The thing I realized the most on this was how much I am kicking myself in the butt when I was younger for never getting my pilot's license. My Dad has his plane and my Grandpa had his MD-500E that was my favorite thing (beat any limo going to prom); but, since I moved away to college/NY and my Grandpa became too old to fly they decided to sell it.
You also get free entry to the Glacier Hot Pools which are part of the FJGG outfit. 36 38 40c pools in a covered canopy.
It's a pretty full day starting at 9:45 and then finishing up around 2 or so. After lunch I thought about doing a hike but I just went to the pools and grabbed dinner at The Landing.
A really awesome place, I would come back again and do some hiking around here and maybe even one of the heli-ice climbs for a bit more adventure as the glacier walk was pretty tame.
Last edited by JVPhoto; Nov 11, 2017 at 1:53 am
Nov 11, 2017, 8:07 pm
#21
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: London
Programs: Mucci (Scirocco Sash), BAEC Gold, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 863
Super TR - we’re just on our way home from NZ to London and had a great 2 weeks in Marlborough/Wellington/Queenstown and then a last night in Auckland - what a lovely country to visit, looking forward to your Queenstown update!
Nov 11, 2017, 8:57 pm
#22
Join Date: Dec 2013
Programs: NZ Airpoints GE, Qantas Platinum, Accor Diamond, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 965
Hi Justin,
Thought you might be interested to learn about our Uzbek service.
I work at Christchurch Airport and the Uzbekistan Airlines flight marks the arrival of Ukrainian fishermen who crew the fishing vessels that scour the southern seas for three months at a time. The plane is chartered from KUL to CHC as an extension of their service from KUL to Tashkent then on to Kiev.
You might have also seen the US military aircraft that operate to the South Pole - we have about five or six planes based here for the summer season.
Delighted you enjoyed your time in NZ - great TR, but I would say that.
Thought you might be interested to learn about our Uzbek service.
I work at Christchurch Airport and the Uzbekistan Airlines flight marks the arrival of Ukrainian fishermen who crew the fishing vessels that scour the southern seas for three months at a time. The plane is chartered from KUL to CHC as an extension of their service from KUL to Tashkent then on to Kiev.
You might have also seen the US military aircraft that operate to the South Pole - we have about five or six planes based here for the summer season.
Delighted you enjoyed your time in NZ - great TR, but I would say that.
Nov 12, 2017, 12:58 pm
#24
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: MRY - CNX - TXL
Programs: UA 1K / *G / Marriott PE / Expedia Gold+ / Hertz PC
Posts: 7,058
Hi Justin,
Thought you might be interested to learn about our Uzbek service.
I work at Christchurch Airport and the Uzbekistan Airlines flight marks the arrival of Ukrainian fishermen who crew the fishing vessels that scour the southern seas for three months at a time. The plane is chartered from KUL to CHC as an extension of their service from KUL to Tashkent then on to Kiev.
You might have also seen the US military aircraft that operate to the South Pole - we have about five or six planes based here for the summer season.
Delighted you enjoyed your time in NZ - great TR, but I would say that.
Thought you might be interested to learn about our Uzbek service.
I work at Christchurch Airport and the Uzbekistan Airlines flight marks the arrival of Ukrainian fishermen who crew the fishing vessels that scour the southern seas for three months at a time. The plane is chartered from KUL to CHC as an extension of their service from KUL to Tashkent then on to Kiev.
You might have also seen the US military aircraft that operate to the South Pole - we have about five or six planes based here for the summer season.
Delighted you enjoyed your time in NZ - great TR, but I would say that.
Nov 12, 2017, 2:47 pm
#25
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: MRY - CNX - TXL
Programs: UA 1K / *G / Marriott PE / Expedia Gold+ / Hertz PC
Posts: 7,058
Along the West Coast to Queenstown
The guide on the Glacier hike said that this was his favorite drive (FJ to Queenstown through Haast Pass); it was nice but I liked Arthur's Pass a lot more.
Stopped at Bruce Bay for a nice little coffee in the middle of no where. There's a few other beaches and places you can stop at until you get to Haast and then it starts going inland.
At Haast you see a no fuel/services for 90km sign and then you get to a nice little mountain village/lodge with a cafe and coffee shop and lots of scenic flights.
In the winter (going through Caradona Ski Resort) it may be tough to cross Crown Range; but, in the summer certainly do it instead of taking Hwy 6. You get to the top of the hill and can see the little bit of Queenstown in the background and also see the airplanes come over the mountain into the valley to land at ZQN.
Just a 6-7 min walk to (7-9 from going uphill) to the CBD I booked Alexis Motel & Apartments. Really friendly check-in girl giving me the rundown of town.
A very generous, by NZ standards, 5GB/day wifi allowance.
The Glacier guide also mentioned how fun the luge was so I went to check that out after I got a quick bite to eat.
Dukkah, poached eggs, quinoa...I knew I would like this town!
No one wanted to get in my gondola.
You have to do the blue course which is more mellow and then they give you a stamp and you can do the red course. I bought 3 rides...after the first I bought 2 more. I had to tell myself to calm down and not push kids out of the way to get in line before them.
It's been 2 weeks since I had Mexican so I'll take it where I can get it. Not the best I had but it is the thought that counts.
This sauce was REALLY good, going to see if I can order online and ship to US.
Patagonia Chocolate & Ice Cream bar for the win...I had one each night.
This burger place had a line like this all day but I didn't try it. Even living in NY with Cronuts and all that crap I refuse to wait in line for food like an idiot.
And now the reason that Queenstown is the adrenaline/adventure capital of the world.
I booked the first trip of the morning to do the combo Shotover Canyon Swing & Canyon Fox.
The first is their new (about 1.5 yr old) Canyon Fox which is essentially two ziplines. The unique thing is the first zip line you have a launch pad and a 10m freefall before the zip line "catches you". It's 182m over the canyon and each line is about 210m long. Once on the far side of the canyon the 2nd line back is a traditional zip line style.
I was the first to go and I committed to doing "Giant Strides" which is where you just barrel down the runway and jump off.
View My Video
A few others did this as well or you can sit and face to the side and they'll sort of guide you off where you don't see straight off the bottom but do have the thrill of the little fall/catch.
After the Fox, which was a good warm up, we moved over to the Canyon Swing. The swing platform is 110m high, you have a 60m freefall ad then swing into a 200m arch. They say there are 70 jump off styles (held upside down, slide off, swam dive, Sparta, ride a tricycle) and I felt the confidence to swan dive off but I really wanted to do The Chair as the crew have a little bit of control messing with you and when you fall off.
(I am trying to get the videos imbedded but the hosted site is blocked by Air NZ lounge saying it's Porn lol,
will try at AKL hotel
For both to and from town it was about 3 hours. Got some exercise doing a 5 mile cardio hike up Queenstown Hill to the look out.
Daylight left to burn hopped in the car and took the scenic drive to Glenorchy, had a water and spent 10 min at the lake then drove back. Seemed like a few cute shops and pubs.
The guide on the Glacier hike said that this was his favorite drive (FJ to Queenstown through Haast Pass); it was nice but I liked Arthur's Pass a lot more.
Stopped at Bruce Bay for a nice little coffee in the middle of no where. There's a few other beaches and places you can stop at until you get to Haast and then it starts going inland.
At Haast you see a no fuel/services for 90km sign and then you get to a nice little mountain village/lodge with a cafe and coffee shop and lots of scenic flights.
In the winter (going through Caradona Ski Resort) it may be tough to cross Crown Range; but, in the summer certainly do it instead of taking Hwy 6. You get to the top of the hill and can see the little bit of Queenstown in the background and also see the airplanes come over the mountain into the valley to land at ZQN.
Just a 6-7 min walk to (7-9 from going uphill) to the CBD I booked Alexis Motel & Apartments. Really friendly check-in girl giving me the rundown of town.
A very generous, by NZ standards, 5GB/day wifi allowance.
The Glacier guide also mentioned how fun the luge was so I went to check that out after I got a quick bite to eat.
Dukkah, poached eggs, quinoa...I knew I would like this town!
No one wanted to get in my gondola.
You have to do the blue course which is more mellow and then they give you a stamp and you can do the red course. I bought 3 rides...after the first I bought 2 more. I had to tell myself to calm down and not push kids out of the way to get in line before them.
It's been 2 weeks since I had Mexican so I'll take it where I can get it. Not the best I had but it is the thought that counts.
This sauce was REALLY good, going to see if I can order online and ship to US.
Patagonia Chocolate & Ice Cream bar for the win...I had one each night.
This burger place had a line like this all day but I didn't try it. Even living in NY with Cronuts and all that crap I refuse to wait in line for food like an idiot.
And now the reason that Queenstown is the adrenaline/adventure capital of the world.
I booked the first trip of the morning to do the combo Shotover Canyon Swing & Canyon Fox.
The first is their new (about 1.5 yr old) Canyon Fox which is essentially two ziplines. The unique thing is the first zip line you have a launch pad and a 10m freefall before the zip line "catches you". It's 182m over the canyon and each line is about 210m long. Once on the far side of the canyon the 2nd line back is a traditional zip line style.
I was the first to go and I committed to doing "Giant Strides" which is where you just barrel down the runway and jump off.
View My Video
A few others did this as well or you can sit and face to the side and they'll sort of guide you off where you don't see straight off the bottom but do have the thrill of the little fall/catch.
After the Fox, which was a good warm up, we moved over to the Canyon Swing. The swing platform is 110m high, you have a 60m freefall ad then swing into a 200m arch. They say there are 70 jump off styles (held upside down, slide off, swam dive, Sparta, ride a tricycle) and I felt the confidence to swan dive off but I really wanted to do The Chair as the crew have a little bit of control messing with you and when you fall off.
(I am trying to get the videos imbedded but the hosted site is blocked by Air NZ lounge saying it's Porn lol,
will try at AKL hotel
For both to and from town it was about 3 hours. Got some exercise doing a 5 mile cardio hike up Queenstown Hill to the look out.
Daylight left to burn hopped in the car and took the scenic drive to Glenorchy, had a water and spent 10 min at the lake then drove back. Seemed like a few cute shops and pubs.
Nov 13, 2017, 8:47 am
#29
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Programs: BA Bronze, Emirates Silver, Virgin Silver, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,402
Love the pictures of Franz Josef – we contemplated going there last year but via train rather than driving it but we simply couldn’t find enough days to fit it in plus the hire car rental was prohibitive too.
Loving reminiscing about Queenstown though! And yes, every time I passed Fergburger there was a queue and like you, no way was I joining it to buy a burger!
Looking forward to hearing more of you NZ adventures.
Loving reminiscing about Queenstown though! And yes, every time I passed Fergburger there was a queue and like you, no way was I joining it to buy a burger!
Looking forward to hearing more of you NZ adventures.
Nov 13, 2017, 9:02 am
#30
Suspended
Join Date: May 2017
Location: In the Swiss amoeba's head
Programs: Lowest level possible
Posts: 2,829
You can't go to Queenstown without going there.
You'll have to go back to Queenstown to fix that.
