Landing in Queenstown

In my first post for the trip, I already showed the views from our rental house (here for six nights).  It's perched high up on a hill that becomes Ben Lomond, with a commanding view of Lake Wakatipu.

Here are some sunrise shots to the East:

These are mountains aptly named

"The Remarkables"

.

Probably named because people 

can't help but remark about them.

We landed in Sydney on time, and got through passport control prior to their two hour daily strike (I kid you not -- from 7-9am each day this week the Border Patrol is on strike.  After that, we waited in the American Express lounge until it was time to head for our flight.

The flight over was delayed (albeit not much), and became jaw dropping as we passed over peak after snow-covered peak.  And the, there was a point, as we headed for landing, where the mountain tops were above the plane.  My advice; fly to New Zealand in the daylight hours.  Not just for the views, but to ensure the pilot can see where he/she is going!

Walking off the plane was a stunning "welcome to New Zealand" momentum -- seeing the mountain ranges hard by the airport.

Once we made it through passport (easy) and the bio section (a little longer wait), it was out to the rental car.  Ah yes, back to driving on the left side of the road.  After one near miss for looking the wrong way, the hang of driving with the "bitch to the ditch" came back (yes, in Ireland, the rental car agent used that, um, colorful phrase with me as way to remember which side to drive on.  It's been a husband-wife laugh line over the years, that we are now sharing with you, our beloved readers.)

We drove through Queenstown and out along the road to Glenorchy to Muna Moke, our rental house for six nights high on the hills overlooking Lake Wakatipu, the Remarkables, Walter Peak, and Cecil Peak.  Of course, as everyone knows, the Maori name for Cecil and Walter Peaks are Kā Kamu-a-Hakitekura.  Go ahead, walk around pronouncing that all day.

After finding out there is no central heat, I showered (good hot shower) in the cold air.  First time in probably 42 hours or so!  We went to dinner at Vknow, a nice restaurant/bar in nearby Fernhill.  The food was delicious.  I had the wild vension from the Fjordlands on excellent mushroom risotto and green beans, while Carol had the lamb shank with vegetables.  The owner, Danny, spent quite a bit of time chatting with us -- he was quite proud we chose his restaurant for our first meal in NZ.  He picked out a couple of great Otago Pinots for us to sample, and then sold us a bottle below his list price to take out.  After a glass of that, we both went to bed. 

This morning -- work, blogging, and a fire. . .

Similar to a fire a hobbit might have.