Unfortunate Extra Day in Queentown

 After enjoying a few days in Queenstown and surrounding region, we were excited about travelling to Auckland on December 7, 2026.  We took the morning easy, in preparation for our flight to Auckland. Unfortunately, our flight from Queenstown was cancelled due to high winds after we arrived at the airport, and after we checked our bags and went thru security. So we had to retrieve our checked bags and find overnight accommodations. I found a room at the Hilton Queenstown Resort. We were reassigned a flight the next morning.

After we checked-in to the hotel, we took the water taxi to Queenstown CBD for a late lunch at a great seafood restaurant, and some ice cream as a popular shop. We then roamed a bit around the touristy area before returning on the water taxi to the hotel for the evening.

At some point during the night, the reassigned flight was also cancelled. We were forced to accept an even later evening flight. In turn, this forced me to start cancelling plans in Auckland, as we were losing a day in town.

Lost Day - December 8, 2026

We didn’t plan for anything in Queenstown on this day, due to it being a lost day. We had breakfast at the hotel cafe, but otherwise relaxed in the hotel room until checkout time.  We finally went to the airport in the afternoon to wait for our early evening flight.

This flight was not cancelled. 

We ultimately landed in Auckland in the evening. After taking our hired towncar to the hotel and checking-in, we settled a bit then went to the hotel cafe for dinner.  Due to our delayed arrival, we had to rearrange plans for our first day in Auckland.