No Mean Frowns in Queenstown

Honeymoon or Family Holiday?

Originally published 23 January 2015

Mummy and Daddy expected it to be a honeymoon, but when I'm added into the mix it turns a little different. Not that I'd have let them go off on their own down to Queenstown anyway, even if they had just got married a couple of days earlier. New Zealand's alpine wonderland in delightful early Summer? No way was I missing the chance to go on my first plane flight!

It was a family holiday of firsts really. My first time on an aeroplane, my first visit to the South Island and Daddy's first nervous breakdown. No, not really. I'll try harder on the next holiday though.

The plane trip down to Queenstown was actually pretty good. I'd planned to kick up a bit of a ruckus if I felt hemmed in or bored, but in the end was distracted with books and snacks, and even ended up having a little sleep.

When we landed we picked up our rental car and drove to the great place Mummy had organised for us to stay at, looking out across the beautifully blue Lake Wakatipu. Inside it was a bit strange though; a nice open upstairs area, but a darker downstairs area with lots of nooks and crannies. Daddy seemed to delight in hiding my dirty nappies in the various rubbish bins the rooms had. I wonder if they've found them all yet?

Since it was my first time down in Queenstown, we decided to visit a few of the tourist hotspots. One of the first, and certainly the most expensive, was taking the Skyline gondola up to the top of the mountain. We could see for miles from up there, right across the town, lake and mountains. Naturally I stayed right by Mummy's side and always came when she called me...

We took a drive to the tiny village of Arrowtown, which was famous for being part of the gold rush in the area a long time ago. The only prospecting going on these days was me angling for some of the homemade fudge Mummy & Daddy bought in a shop there by incessantly reaching for some and saying "ta" until they gave in.

Later it was time for a boat cruise on the lake. Maybe I was a bit tired by the time we got on board, maybe the movement of the boat was making me sleepy, or maybe looking at water for an hour isn't actually that interesting, but I was quite restless during the cruise. There wasn't far I could walk and I wasn't allowed to go up on the open air top deck. They did let me steer the boat for a minute at one point though, which was fun. Captain Ollie at the helm!

Queenstown was a good place to go for my first overseas (well, sort of) adventure. The town centre's nice and small, with lots of places that I could have a run around in close by - the botanic gardens, a playground, the wharf area. It may not have been the honeymoon that Mummy & Daddy were thinking of, but I reckon it was made even better by my being there. Go Captain Ollie!