Views of the Queenstown Area and Milford Sound, New Zealand from Our 2001 Trip

Updated 14 October 2019

We visited New Zealand in 2001, and were blown away by the beauty of the land, as well as the friendliness of the people.

After arriving by air in Auckland, our hosts suggested a side trip to the South Island. We signed up for a tour and were happy that we did. The tour provided hotels and all travel connections. We were on our own for sightseeing and entertainment.

As part of the tour, were were taken to Queenstown, a very scenic area of South Island. The lake is very pretty, and the area is surrounded by high mountains. The skiing season was about to start, so the streets of Queenstown were full of skiers, waiting for the right amount of snow on the slopes.

Queenstown appeals to an international crowd, so there were some remarkable restaurants there. We managed to get Dim Sum, our favorite kind of Chinese food. We found a sushi place that offered 14 pieces for NZ$8. At that time, our meal was about US$3 (really). We finally had one big blow-out dinner, many courses, lots of wine, dessert: all the things we avoid when travelling, due to price gouging. We figured we would 'pay the price' when we got home to the U. S. Well a month later our charge card was dinged for US$20!!

The tour company picked us up from the hotel for a bus and boat trip of Milford Sound. The bus trip was wonderful, but the boat trip was a mess. The 'Red Line' boat and people were very hostile to us, since we had a 'tour' ticket, rather than a direct reservation with them. Then, it rained and rained, and blew and blew, which bothered us at first. However, this 'bad' weather created some amazing waterfalls, all along the Sound. So, in spite of poor treatment by the boat company, we saw some sights that most tourists don't get to see: huge waterfalls tumbling into the Sound from the cliffs above.

NOTE that these photographs are Copyright©2001-2019 Robert and Sandra Swanson. I greatly appreciate people viewing the photos, but not stealing them. If someone is interested from a commercial point of view, please contact me.

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Tasman Sea coastline near Jacobs River -- Queenstown and Milford Sound