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1 Frankton Road and Dublin Street, Queenstown, South Island, 9999, New Zealand
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Some pubs/ restaurants
Queenstown Airport
Bobs Weigh
Milford Sound
My wife and I are traveling with our daughters and are interested in traveling to the North of OZ with a focus on Nature. So far we have only secured our flight to Sydney and not have to figure out an itinerary that includes flights, places to stay, and some of the other practical considerations. It seems that OZ is a big place and we seek any advice regarding these large issues. We are used to traveling by the seat of our pants regarding bookings but it seems that this isn't the best idea given the "high" season, school holidays, etc… In addition to traveling as a destination we are interested in providing our children with international travel as a means of giving our children a bigger picture of the world.
We live in San Francisco and tend to disagree with the Fisherman's wharf type suggestions that are common in many local guide books. We don't want to visit a Fisherman's Wharf - in OZ if that makes any sense. We have just over 3 weeks and don't want to spend it driving so we are looking into flights. We are very flexible but intend to fly to places like Cairns, Darwin and rent a car to explore the area before our nest flight.
Thanks you in advance for any suggestions to this vague question.
hey LOL what are you doing in Queenstown? That is in the South Island of NZ.
yes, July is high season in the hotter areas of Australia as its winter, and cooler weather. Lots of people from the south of Australia head up here for the winter, have bookings from one year to the next.
Brisbane and the national parks are pretty close by. Have a look at Lamington, Tamborine mtn. Glasshouse mtns, Bunya Mtns, Moreton Bay {go to st. Helena or nth stradbroke Island] Cairns, lots to see here, allow some days here, then go to Kakadu {wonderful} and Uluru near Alice Springs. This will fill your time up, you may not even have enough time!
All the hinterland around the Tweed area has stunning scenery too, this is Northern New south wales.
There is also a Queenstown in Tasmania - but a bit out of the way regarding other suggestions
Hi Joseph, welcome to VT.
If you want to visit the north of Australia then look at flying into Cairns or Brisbane rather than Sydney. "It seems that Oz is a big place" you said - it is. It's a continent and from Sydney to Cairns is over 2,000 miles. But as we have only 22 million people there's plenty of empty countryside to see!
July is winter and not the big holiday season (that's summer/Christmas) but as the weather in the far north is just about perfect it is the high season up there.
I suggest you first check out the info on the area we have on our pages here on VT. Just click on our names to go to our pages and follow the links. That will give you some excellent info and tips which you can use to make a draft itinerary, then you can come back if you need to with specific questions.
Hi
I'm not sure if this will be of any help to you but I did a bit of a trip around Australia fairly recently and its covered on my Australia page. Two areas of comonality between your requirement and my trip was Sydney and Cairns so there might be something there which may strike a chord. If you look and you need me to clarify any points just drop me a note and I'll try and help
There is much more to Queenstown than the mountains and bungy jumping and skiing. Cultural events and other activities are always scheduled, especially during peak season. I wasn't here long enough to attend any events, and I was here in the middle of winter, but I am listing the city's official website, which has plenty of information on Queenstown and its events.
http://www.queenstownnz.co.nz/
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Queenstown can be flooded from time to time, especially after the snowmelt and heavy rainfall. The major flooding of 1999 happened after extensive rainfall. Some buildings were still flooded two weeks after the event, several businesses were out of action for three months. Since then many insurance companies do not cover the area any longer against flood-related damage.
Queenstown’s location is the problem. It lies on the shores of Lake Wakatipu which drains via the Kawarau River. Inflows to the lake (by the Dart River among several rivers that flow into the lake in the Glenorchy area) are higher than outflows. Plus, the Shotover river as a major tributary of the Kawarau River has a large delta which impedes the flow of the Kawarau, and further downstream the Kawarau has a narrow gorge which constricts the flows.
Due to this geographical position, once there were recommendations in place to build only on higher grounds and not at lake level. The warnings of the flood risk have been widely ignored, especially by businesses. So now nearly all of Queenstown’s tourist businesses and restaurants are located in the centre of a floodplain, and are calling the regional council for better flood protection on a regular base.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council and the Otago Regional Council, however, have told the people to learn to live with flooding and attempt to reduce its impact. (For example, to raise the floor levels of affected buildings.)
The strategy does not provide any plans to prevent the floodings. (The situation at Lake Wanaka BTW is similar.) “If you choose to live on the flood plains of a major catchment like Lake Wakatipu and Lake Wanaka then there is an inevitability about flooding", says Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Clive Geddes. "Successive councils, both regional and district, have over 40 years looked at every possible physical option and we have come down in 2006 to understanding there is a limited amount of work we can do."
This, of course, does not satisfy the owners of waterside properties.
It is a bit like with people who build next to an existing tennis court and then complain about the permanent plop-plop of the tennis balls.
Historic context:
During the flood of November 1999 Lake Wakatipu reached a peak level of 312.78 metres, exceeding the record from 1878. About five hectares of the township were flooded. In some locations the water stood more than a metre above floor level. Central Queenstown became a serious health risk as decomposing mud, food and sewage contaminated the floodwaters. Visitors were told to stay away. Of course, this is a dreadful scenario for a town that totally depends on tourism.
This is a very interesting article about the flood problem in Queenstown. It includes photos of the 1999 flooding:
http://www.qualityplanning.org.nz/pubs/1999-Queenstown-Floods.pdf
The Actionflite pilots will fly you high above the Queenstown basin amongst spectacular lakes and mountains, then entertain you with an awe-inspiring cocktail of manoeuvres that ordinarily would only be seen at an airshow.
I took a LOTR safari while in Queenstown and it was really an interesting day out.
Many of the areas that NOMAD safaris tour visits provide the spectacular backdrops to
' The Fellowship of the Ring ' ; The Ford at Bruinen, The Misty Mountains, Isengard & Lothlorien, better know locally as Skippers Canyon, Macetown & Paradise.
Half day tour is 4 hours.
Just as you drive in to Wanaka on the left is Stuart Landsborough's Puzzling World. We were looking for something fun to do and this looked interesting.
The centre has a 1.5km maze which is a challenge in itself. They also have a puzzle musuem and table with puzzles that you can play with. It was fun for us but I imagine it would be even more fun for families and kids.
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