12/24/2016 - Taking Off and Landing: The Adventure Begins

Day of week: Saturday

Cities visited: Auckland, Queenstown

Lodging: AirBnB in Queenstown

The adventure begins indeed! Our flight to New Zealand provided an initial peak of the beauty to come, and the range of landscapes in NZ. We landed in Auckland on the north island and then hopped a small plane to Queenstown.

Time lapse video landing in Auckland

Our view flying into Queenstown

Our view coming into Auckland

We landed in Queenstown and there was no wait to pick up the rental car (a trusty Mazda 6). We also rented a GPS unit to help us navigate the country, which turned out to become something like a third family member. It knew the speed limits pretty well and would chirp at us when we (accidentally) drove too fast. It also always seemed to have reception even when our phones didn't. We basically never had to worry about navigating. 

Emma took the wheel first and somehow got us safely to the AirBnB -- it turns out it's tricky for both of us to drive far enough towards the center of the road when driving on the left. On the other hand, the speed limit is 100 kilometers per hour and it's cool to drive 100 somethings on the speedometer.

Emma reassuring Zach things will go well 

Then we walked around Queenstown, tried seafood chowder at a fancier restaurant, a decent variant of New England chowder but they add turmeric to turn it yellow. We enjoyed the beautiful lake and mountain scenery, as well as the 45 min uphill walk home to the AirBnB from the downtown area. Building those leg muscles for our long hike later on!

Panoramic shot of Zach in Queenstown by the wharf