While in Wellington, our friend Penny (who lives in Christchurch) had let us know there was some unexpected nasty weather heading for the west coast of the South Island. Well that is exactly where we happened to be heading next, Queenstown. The front we were heading into was called a "weather bomb." We were blissfully unaware of what we were about to experience!

We hopped onto our flight from Wellington to Queenstown, ready for what we had been told was going to be one of the most picturesque and beautiful flights we will ever see. Turns out, with a "weather bomb" none of those beautiful moments can be seen. Locals on the flight told us we were actually flying in the opposite way of the normal route. Bummer, huge bummer! 

Day 1: Our airport shuttle dropped us off at our Airbnb apartment and we discovered that we were a tad bit out of town. We knew the bus stop was right by the apt complex but we didn't realize the round trip cost into town would be $12! Needless to say, our Queenstown visit wasn't off to a great start! We were determined to have some delicious wine and make the most out of the day so we headed into town and found a wine tasting shop, The Winery, where you can get small pours of wines from around the region. While we were at the shop we booked a wine tour for the next day to check out the Central Otago wine region. We aren't normally the type to take a wine tour as we love to do our own thing and take our time talking to the staff at the wineries but we didn't rent a car while in Queenstown, so we felt like this was our best option. 

Day 2: Up and ready for some wine tasting! We were picked up for the tour by the guide Simon and 10 other wine tour friends--who all happened to be from the States and at least 25 years older than us! We were the young ones by a long shot! We visited several wineries, Amisfield Winery, Carrick, Domain Road and Waitiri Creek Winery. Our favorite, hands-down, was the boutique winery, Domain Road. The winery structure was a small, modern design set against the vineyards. The chardonnay and pinot noirs were so delicious! We ended up purchasing a vertical tasting of 2010, 2011 and 2012 of their Pinot Noir. 

Day 3: We woke up bright and early to get picked up at 5:50 a.m. at the bus stop for the Juicy Sunriser to Milford Sound. During our early stages of planning I was looking forward to experiencing the Milford Sound, known as the 8th natural wonder. The Juicy Sunriser tour drove us 2.5 hrs along to Fjordland National Park. Upon entering the park we stopped off several times to capture glacial run-off in our water bottles, take in the Reflection Lake and stand in awe of the beautiful landscape before us. The main attraction of the tour is a boat cruise around Milford Sound, which is not actually a sound but a fjord. We journeyed along under waterfalls, saw some seals sun-bathing, watched dolphins dance in the trail of the boat water and stood out looking at the beauty of the landscape. The bus tour took us all the way back to Queenstown that afternoon and shortly after arriving back at our Airbnb, our friend Penny arrived! If you weren't paying attention in the Auckland post, you will have missed out on the introduction to Penny. We met this sweet girl during our time in Hawaii where she volunteered at the chocolate factory that I was working at. After hearing about all the great things she had to say about New Zealand, we knew we had to make it there for a visit. She had stayed with us twice during our time in Tacoma and each time she left us with more of a desire to visit. We decided in October there was no time like the present and head to NZ in January to get out of the gray Tacoma weather. Penny helped us tremendously with our itinerary and planning--so thankful for her! She also brought extra clothes and layers for since the weather had turned so chilly! We were prepared for summer, not the fall-like temps that we were experiencing. 

Day 4: Sightseeing day with Penny! We headed to Arrowtown and ate breakfast at The Chop Shop and wandered around the town for a bit. Arrowtown is known for it's history as a Chinese gold-mining town. We headed up the windy Crown Range on our way to Wanaka. We took in the requisite stop at #thatwanakatree, a single tree growing in Lake Wanaka. Penny suggested we head to Rippon Winery to check out the wines and the view and we weren't disappointed by either. We couldn't get over all the beautiful scenery that our eyes were taking in on this trip. Every day it was another beautiful landscape over and over!