A day (or two) in Queenstown

In order to get to the Routeburn Track, we had to first make our way down to Queenstown, which serves as a gateway for the Fjordland region. We spent half a day there on arrival before taking a two-hour bus ride to the start of the track.

Before the hike - so clean and well rested! I waited to put my boots on as long as I could.

Even though the Routeburn Track is only 32km long, the path it takes through the mountains means that the ride home is twice as long as the ride there, so after we finished our tramp, we had to ride a bus for four hours back to Queenstown, arriving after 7pm on Easter Sunday.  I was afraid nothing would be open for dinner, but Queenstown did not disappoint! Because it's such a tourism-centric town, it is exempt from many of the laws around public holiday closures in New Zealand, so we were able to feast!

On the road to Routeburn.

Our flight wasn't due to leave until 6pm on Easter Monday, so we had a full day to hang out in Queenstown.  A few of us got much deserved massages, we had some beer at Atlas Cafe (our favourite spot in Queenstown) and finally tried a Fergburger. Fergburger is a bit of a legend in Queenstown, and whenver we're there, the line is out the door and around the block. We timed our trip for mid-afternoon, so only had to wait about 20 minutes.  As promised, our burgers were gigantic, but they were also slightly undercooked and probably not worth the hype.  I'm glad I had one, but wouldn't go out of my way to get another.

Hanging out with our favourite Kiwi and eating our Fergberger by the lake - the restaurant itself has minimal seating.

About 2 minutes before our flight was due to leave, the status board switched our flight from "on time" to "cancelled!" We were a little confused considering the lovely weather, but soon found out our plane had mechanical issues that kept it from getting to us. It was due to be the last flight of the day, so we were stuck in Queenstown for another night!  Thankfully, we were the first to notice the cancellation, and immediately got on the phone to Air New Zealand to book the first flights out the next morning. At that point, there were more people stranded than there were empty seats on the following day, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some people were stuck for days.  This was especially upsetting to the multiple people who had connecting international flights, but to us - it was a bonus night in Queenstown!

This nice view brought to you by Air New Zealand!

Air New Zealand handled the situation better than we expected - they put us up in nice hotels in the centre of town, provided shuttles to/from the airport and paid for a 3-course dinner and a hot breakfast. Initially we were excited for our extra night in Queenstown, but by the time we had made it back to the hotel and eaten dinner, we were all so tired that we went straight to bed.  The next morning Rob and I drove straight from the airport to work, still in the clothes we'd been wearing for two days.