Allie and I arrived in Queenstown on December 3, 2026 in the afternoon (local time). We left California our previous day of December 1, 2026 (local time). We lost a day to travel and another day to the International Date Line. We also lost a portion of one day to a long stay in Auckland Airport on our way to Queenstown. The following are my journal entries from the first few days.
Tuesday, December 3: A Lakeside Welcome at Wakatipu Grill
We stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Kawarau Village near Queenstown. After settling in, we walked over to Wakatipu Grill at Hilton Queenstown Resort and Spa. Restaurant staff sat us in a glass-enclosed patio with good views of the lake as the sun set. The dishes were very good. I had the Pork Porchette, and Allie had a steak dish she liked a lot. We also tried a drink called a Matcha Mojito, which ended up tasting more like a Long Island Ice Tea than anything that should bear the name “mojito” or “matcha.”
The staff were really helpful, though. They went out of their way to make an actual Iced Tea for me even though it’s not on the menu. For a location that doesn’t brew iced tea, they made a great one. Dessert was a bit of a surprise. The Strawberry Cheesecake was really more of a strawberry mousse. Even still, it was fairly tasty, just not what we expected. We also had a type of Chocolate cake that tasted very good but came with a super hard chocolate shell that was thicker than a candy bar. It literally required a steak knife to break through. The shell was likely just too thick, making it a bit of a nuisance to an otherwise tasty dish. Overall, it was a great experience with extremely attentive, capable staff.
Wednesday, December 4: Water Taxis, Gondolas, and Queenstown CBD
The weather was nice and sunny with light cloud cover and a little bit of a morning chill. We started the itinerary by taking a water taxi from the Hilton over to the Queenstown CBD, which let us see the area from the lake and take in the gorgeous scenery. From the CBD, we walked over to the Skyline Gondolas. On the ride up to Skyline Queenstown, we saw and heard a goat on the side of the mountain. I had an 11:45 reservation at the Stratosfare Restaurant for their buffet lunch. The food was high quality with a lot of great options, and our table offered awesome views of the town and lake from a high vantage point.
Afterward, we hit the souvenir shop before heading back down. We had another appointment at Kiwi Park Queenstown where we explored this special kind of zoo. Highlight is that we were able to catch glimpses of actual kiwi birds! That was awesome. We also saw many other beautiful and native animals, including a bird and reptile show. There was also a happy and buzzy bee colony.
We left the park and roamed around the CBD for some more shopping. The town is very much a touristy place, and there didn’t seem to be a ton of local personality beyond the architecture and the beautiful deep valley lake backdrop. After a long day, we took the water taxi back to the hotel to relax and rest for the evening.
Thursday, December 5: Hiking Frankton and Finding the Local Spots
Allie and I went on an exploratory hike into the Frankton area and ended up at Pantry by Frank’s. We ordered a couple of bagel sandwiches, but what’s called a “bagel” here is more of a white bread with a pastry crust than an actual dense bagel. Allie’s Pesto Chicken sandwich was served cold for whatever reason, while my Chicken Club was warm. Allie had a hot breakfast tea, and I had a hot Chai tea. Exploring the area further, we discovered an Asian market, a grocery store, a very nice laundromat, and a few other shops. The grocery store had a permanent resident cat who guards the entrance as it naps throughout the day. On the way back to the hotel, we took a heavily vegetated trail along the river. The bugs annoyed Allie, but luckily none bit her.
Being so far South on the Globe in the summer means there is still direct sunlight on the city at 9pm. Later that night, I caught a view of the full moon with its light reflecting perfectly across the lake.
On December 6, we took a day-long tour of various Lord of the Rings filming locations on the South Island. Unfortunately, we had a series of cancelled flights on December 7, so we ended up staying an extra day in Queenstown, not making it to Auckland until December 8.
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