South Island: Queenstown & Te Anau

As we descended steadily, all eyes were on lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables, the excitement building up in the cabin. Leaning across from my aisle seat to catch a glimpse of the scenery below, it was a blend of Swiss mountains and landscapes from the American west as portrayed in films, captivating enough to tear me from my new Ozzie magazine, The Lifted Brow (highly recommend).

Queenstown is a bustling little town, awash with adventure agencies boasting the best skydiving and paragliding in the area. A gondola took us up Bob’s Peak, said to be the steepest cable car lift in the Southern Hemisphere, to where the Skyline luge tracks start. I would describe it as sledging meets carting. Hadeeqa and I bolted down on ours, whizzing around bends and down dippers, overtaking entire families, it was great fun! After some rash decision-making, Tim and I decided to go paragliding while we were up there and although the flight was short, my French instructor George went for some hair-raising 90 degree swings. Hadeeqa being very keen on horses, I went with her on a ride up from Moke lake into a stunning valley dried golden by summer and home to six thousand sheep. Our guide was telling me about a mineral in the lakes in New Zealand, also present in diamonds, which traps the sunlight in a certain way and mirrors the colour of the sky, hence the intense azure blue water. Horse riding strikes me as being a very personal way to discover a place, especially one as unworldly as this. Somehow my horse made it all tangible and the ride itself gave me time to soak up the surroundings properly.

Our drive to Te Anau (South West of Queenstown) was punctuated by a lovely stop at the tip of lake Wakatipu where the others dipped in for a numbingly cold swim. I was happier basking in the sun on the pebble beach, reading my magazine. Once in Te Anau we embarked on a cruise to the famous glowworm caves, twelve thousand year old formations carved out by a gushing river of glacial water. As we ventured underground, glowing specks of a greenish colour appeared on the rocks above our heads and the further down we ambled, the more of these intriguing creatures we distinguished. Amidst the deafening roar of a waterfall we stepped into a rowing boat and glided across silent waters, occasionally thudding against the cave walls in the dark. Hundreds of little lights concentrated together, it was like a starry night sky unfolding at arms-length just for us.

Outside of town, set back on a path snaking up a hillside, the Hunker Bunker was our home for two nights. With its solar-powered fridge, incredible view on the mountains and chalet-feel, this comfortable cottage felt like our separate little world. The next morning was sinister and we feared our much awaited Milford Sound outing would suffer from the uncertain weather. Needless to say, the drive there was spectacular, even more so with the waterfalls precipitated by the rain tumbling down from mountains left and right. Our boat took us right out to the Tasman sea and back, with sightings of seals lolling around on the rocks and close enough to a waterfall to experience just how glacial the waters are.

I wonder if after a while the landscapes will cease to amaze us. On our drive from Te Anau to Tarras I noticed a plant which grows in tuffs on hillsides and resembles sand-coloured hair when it sways in the wind, making it look like the hills are dancing.

Sascha xx