New Zealand Dec. 25 2022 report

[sayhello]

I don't remember if the salad was small. I will say the guides and restaurants were very good about noting and accommodating dietary restrictions.

The walk to the tree was nothing special. You just follow the beach

I just re-read my comment about the walk to the tree, and it sounded a bit snarky to me. I totally did not intend it that way, and hope I didn't offend you!

Day 10: Breakfast at the St. Moritz

But what made breakfast special was eating breakfast on a table with a view like this:

Oh, man!! I'd eat dry toast and coffee for breakfast just to have a view like that while I was eating!!

I REALLY hope it's cool enough when we're there in March that the lack of A/C isn't an issue. I have a REALLY hard time sleeping in the heat. Fingers and toes crossed!

Sayhello

ETA: I keep forgetting to ask. Is it true they aren't giving out the duffel bags any more? I always used it for things I wanted to have on the motorcoach with me. If they didn't give them out, did everyone use the backpack? It's pretty big for me to fit in my suitcase, but if I have to, I have to.

 

[mraviator]

ETA: I keep forgetting to ask. Is it true they aren't giving out the duffel bags any more? I always used it for things I wanted to have on the motorcoach with me. If they didn't give them out, did everyone use the backpack? It's pretty big for me to fit in my suitcase, but if I have to, I have to.

We did not receive a duffel bag, just a backpack. On a US ABD trip last year, we did get the duffel bag.

As far as St. Moritz and heat goes, if the forecast says temperatures will be much above 65F/18C, I'd recommend asking the front desk for a fan as soon as you get off the bus. We did that, since we also like to sleep cool, and had one delivered within the hour. I don't think they have enough to go around and some families did not get one. Then again, once you get past mid February, it's rare to get temperatures into the 70s there, so you will likely be ok without a fan.

 

[mraviator]

Another post for hikers, walkers and runners.

I don't want to steal @Eastridge's Queenstown report, but just want to point out the Frankton Arm Track. I ran a good portion of it three times while there and it's wonderful for that or morning/evening walks along the lake. It starts on the southside of the Queenstown Gardens. Sunrise was especially great with the lake/mountain/cloud interactions in the golden hour light.

If you're more into hiking, there is a main trail that starts at the base of the gondola, just above the cemetery from which you can branch off onto a couple of tracks that take you up to the top of the gondola. Or take the gondola up and hike it down.

 

[Eastridge]

I just re-read my comment about the walk to the tree, and it sounded a bit snarky to me. I totally did not intend it that way, and hope I didn't offend you!

ETA: I keep forgetting to ask. Is it true they aren't giving out the duffel bags any more? I always used it for things I wanted to have on the motorcoach with me. If they didn't give them out, did everyone use the backpack? It's pretty big for me to fit in my suitcase, but if I have to, I have to.

I didn't take any offense, but that Wanaka tree might have hurt feelings...

We did not receive duffel bags from ABD on this trip. The domestic flight allows only a single checked bag in luggage and a small carry on, so that is a disincentive to use duffel bags prior to the South Island.

We did bring our own duffel bags from previous ABD trips. My intent was to use them for shopping in Queenstown or Auckland airport. But that plan didn't work, as I will cover in Day 12...

 

[Eastridge]

Another post for hikers, walkers and runners.

Thanks for adding the pointers!

 

[Eastridge]

Video recommendation

If you have Paramount+, there is a show called "Aerial New Zealand" that has nice footage of some of the locations and activities in this trip, plus many other parts of New Zealand that this trip doesn't cover

 

[Eastridge]

Day 10: A Remarkable Day

What's notable about this day is how many changes there were in the plan. But in the end, we did all the scheduled activities, just not in the original order.

The standard itinerary takes the group to Glenorchy in the morning for horseback riding. That wasn't available, I guess because of the holiday season. So ABD substituted a gondola ride up and down a nearby mountain on Skyline Queenstown, along with tickets to ride the luge cars. We were told about this change weeks before the trip started, so this was not a surprise. The gondola and luge cars were something I had identified to do on "on your own" time anyway so I was perfectly fine with the substitution. They have a buffet dinner option where you can get reserved seats by a window, but unfortunately that restaurant was closed today.

But when we gathered in the lobby in the morning, Kira announced that the gondola had broken down. The company hoped to get it running by the afternoon. So Nettie ran over to get tickets in advance so that we could go on our own later in the day. Kira "called an audible" and shifted the "on your own time" to the morning. She led a group to walk around Queenstown. My family broke off and we walked to the peninsula on the other side of the bay, opposite the hotel.

You can see two future activities in this picture: the Skyline Queenstown gondola that takes you up the mountain to the lookout, and the TSS Earnslaw boat at the bottom​

There were a variety of activities in the bay. Some people were in parasails, being pulled by a boat. There were strange small semi-submersible boats/subs called Hydro Attack. They were decorated to look like sharks and could both dive down and also leap out of the water.

The Queenstown area in general has many options, but since there isn't much "on your own" time during these last two days, you might have to extend the trip or sacrifice some of the ABD activities.

I could get used to this​

The central area of town has many restaurants and shops

 

[Eastridge]

Day 10: Glenorchy lunch and jet boats

We boarded the bus at the hotel in the late morning and drove to Glenorchy, a small town at the tip of the lake. The drive is very scenic. Some people consider this even better than the drive from Franz Josef to Queenstown.

We had lunch at the Glenorchy hotel. It was another buffet, with sliders and more fried food...

Then we walked across the street to the offices of Dart River Adventures. They prepared us for our jet boat ride. Each person got a life jacket. We boarded vans that took us to where the boats were.

Jet boats work by shooting a jet of water rather than by using a propeller. When running at speed, the boats can go in as little as 4 inches of water. These boats go as fast at 55 MPH, which is insanely fast for a boat. Jet boats were invented in New Zealand to run in the kinds of rivers that we were about to fly through.

Initially I thought they would take us out in the lake, run around for a bit, do some spins, etc. Actually, this took 2 hours and they went 35 km up and down the Dart river. There's no bathroom break so use the facilities before getting on the boat. See the blue / purple path on the map:

You should wear glasses or some other eye protection. The pilot will also spin the boat, and can cause it to be a dry spin or a wet spin. If you're on the outside edge that gets splashed, a wet spin will make you feel you just went on Splash Mountain. But then they run the boat at 55 MPH and you dry out. Before the pilot spins the boat, he/she will give a hand signal. That is your cue to brace yourself with your hands and feet. There are no seat belts on this ride. Don't stand up or you will fly out of the boat.

This was a spectacular, thrilling ride that lasts a long time. The pilot deliberately steers the boat toward the left or right edge of the shoals or other obstacles to make it more thrilling

There is one stop where all three boats park on a shoal and everyone can get out to look at the rocks and the mountains. The scenery is spectacular. This region has been used in many films, such as Lord of the Rings. They used this area for Isengard and other sites in the films.

The weather was perfect and this was a great activity. Some called it their favorite of the entire trip. I would think this depends on the weather, though. If it was raining, getting pelted by 55MPH raindrops doesn't sound like much fun. But I guess the trip gods decided to make up for the America's Cup boat ride.

 

[Eastridge]

Day 10: Return to Queenstown and Skyline Queenstown

The vans brought us back to the Dart River Adventures offices and then we learned of another change. There was a serious accident on the road back to Queenstown, so we would wait a while before driving back to town. We had about a 90 minute delay. It was thoughtful of ABD to let us wait in town where there were more options, rather than being stuck on a bus frozen in traffic.

There is a store nearby called Mrs. Wooly's General Store, which has food, interesting souvenirs, wool products, etc. Worth a look. We could also buy snacks at the Dart River offices or attempt to use their weak WiFi. The guides also started Finding Dory on the bus, so guests who wanted to could watch the movie.

Mrs. Wooly's General Store​

If you have to wait and take in the scenery, there are worse places to be...​

On the drive back to Queenstown,, I saw one car in the accident. It had plunged off the road and landed quite a distance down. Hope nobody was seriously hurt but it didn't look good. Again, I was quite happy to leave the driving to professionals.

Eventually we got back to Queenstown, later than planned. I had cancelled my dinner reservation long before this. The bus went directly to the gondola for anybody who wanted to go. The people who stayed on the bus were brought back to the hotel and had the rest of the night on their own.

We took the gondola up.

At the top, you are rewarded with a stunning view of the Queenstown area:

Then there are the luge cars. These are gravity powered individual cars that race down two different tracks. ABD gave each ticket three rides on the luge cars.

If you want to drive a luge car, you must first walk down a fairly steep hill to a ski lift, catch the ski lift, and at the top you must run off the still-moving chair lifts:

When you grab a luge car, you sit down as if you are sitting on the floor. For your first ride, you must show a staff member that you can steer the car and must demonstrate multiple times that you can stop and start the car. There are two different tracks. For the first ride, you must use the less steep track. In future rides you can choose either track.

The tracks are wide enough that you can try to drive like a real race car driver by cutting corners and choosing your line. They are also wide enough that you can safely pass other people. I passed some people and others blew by me.

Or, if you are the teens in the group, you can engage in a competitive race with not-so-safe maneuvers that may involve pushing your friends off the race course. Or so I heard. I wasn't there and don't have video evidence. I think they all managed to get down the gondola and back to the hotel with limbs intact.

We had dinner on our own around 8:30pm in Queenstown, just walking into a restaurant.

 

[Eastridge]

There were news reports on January 27 of 10 inches of rain falling in Auckland over a few hours. Caused widespread flooding, including at the Auckland airport. 2000 passengers were stranded at the airport. Some inbound flights were forced to divert. This will likely screw up flight schedules for a while.

There should be an ABD NZ group traveling right now, from Jan 23 to Feb 3. Based on that schedule they should have gotten out of Auckland before the floods. I hope that group’s return flights through Auckland are unaffected. I assume ABD will be monitoring this.

 

[sayhello]

There were news reports on January 27 of 10 inches of rain falling in Auckland over a few hours. Caused widespread flooding, including at the Auckland airport. 2000 passengers were stranded at the airport. Some inbound flights were forced to divert. This will likely screw up flight schedules for a while.

There should be an ABD NZ group traveling right now, from Jan 23 to Feb 3. Based on that schedule they should have gotten out of Auckland before the floods. I hope that group’s return flights through Auckland are unaffected. I assume ABD will be monitoring this.

I was looking at that, because I've been occasionally monitoring the performance of my upcoming flights, and it listed the flight from the 28th as cancelled. The flight from the 26th landed in Christchurch instead of Auckland (as they were already in the air). The airport *has* re-opened, I haven't heard whether they've "caught up" yet or not. I've seen videos and photos, and the airport and much of the town was a real mess.

Sayhello

 

[Eastridge]

Day 11: Wakatipu Wonders

This is the last day of activities. It starts by driving to Arrowtown, a short drive from Queenstown. Arrowtown was a gold rush town. It is small but has some shops, restaurants, etc. I think we had less than an hour here.

Near the bus stop are public toilets that are worth checking out. They are "talking toilets" with sliding doors and everything is controlled via buttons and proximity controls. It felt like something from Star Trek.

I didn't go shopping here. Instead, I walked to the nearby Chinese settlement, which has restored some buildings that Chinese migrants used during the gold rush. These miserable huts were much worse than what the British lived in...

If you don't want to do the e-bike ride, you will have more time in Arrowtown. There is a small museum and ABD will cover the entry fee. Then ABD will bus you directly to the Gibbston Winery. If you choose to ride the e-bikes, the bus drives you to the starting point for that.

 

[Eastridge]

Day 11: E-bike ride to Gibbston Winery

I'm going to cover a lot of details about this bike ride, because this is the activity where a few of us got hurt. This was more challenging than I expected.

ABD does warn you before you go, calling it an intermediate bike ride and suggesting that you should be comfortable operating a bike. The e-bikes are not mopeds and you must still pedal, although the electric boost does help. ABD also cautions that this is not a flat road and that you ride on gravel.

I'm going to get into many more details than that. This trip is not on a paved road with cars zooming by. (There is one short segment that is paved, where you can really open up the bikes.) It's not a really easy bike ride on perfectly flat or smooth roads where there are no obstacles or problems if you go off road. It's also not as bad as a narrow, mountain trail with steep hills where you should be an experienced mountain biker. It is somewhere in between. I think the entire length of the ride was a little over 10 miles.

The bikes were brought by a van with a trailer. This becomes important later on, since you encounter this van multiple times.

We divided into smaller groups where each was led by a guide from the bike company:

The guide explains the operation of the e-bike. There are three levels of boost. I left it at the lowest level of boost for most of the ride, only raising it to the middle level before taking on a hill. The guide said that if you left the boost on at high for the entire trip, it might run out of battery. However, some people did that and reported that they still had plenty of battery left at the end. I think it is unwise to leave the boost at full power all the time because that may run you off the road faster than you expect if you're not going in the direction you want.

I didn't find the hills to be much of a problem. The important thing is to downshift before taking on the hill, and then add the boost level you want.

A bigger issue is that the brake controls are reversed compared to what we are used to in the US. The left handle control activates the rear brake, rather than the right handle control. If you are an experienced biker or motorcycle rider, this works against your intuition. Casual bikers should squeeze the rear brake before applying the front brake. These bikes are heavy, so there probably is not a big chance of flying over the handlebars if you suddenly squeeze the front brake, but it's still better to not try it. The guide suggested keeping only one finger on the right handle brake control as a tangible way of reminding you what to squeeze second, not first.

We get a chance to practice a bit on the nice huge grassy field before heading off on the path. Here's the only photo I have of the trail:

If everything was like this, it wouldn't be too bad. However, there are other people. Sometimes people pass you. Sometimes people come from the opposite direction. Then the width becomes less than half of what you see here. And when I was going slowly, I had difficulty controlling the bike and wobbled a fair amount. Sometimes I found it challenging to keep the bike on the trail.

This also doesn't show you the hills, both up and down. Going downhill, you either must be confident enough to take the slope at high speeds or carefully apply your brakes to navigate the hills and turns. There are hairpin turns and one 90 degree turn.

There are also obstacles. Occasionally, there is a metal pole or wooden post right in the middle of the trail. So you have to navigate that, avoiding both the pole and the edges of the trail. Because there are many places on this trail where you do not want to go off trail. If you do, you may tumble down quite a distance and perhaps get seriously hurt. There is one stretch where there is a gorge on the left side, and of course you ride on the left in NZ...

Example of a pole in the middle​

At one point, I wobbled off trail and fell off the bike into some bushes, by a tree. Got several cuts and scrapes. Nothing serious, and I got back on and continued, but it made me more cautious. Several other times I was losing control so I was quick to put my feet down or to grab something with an arm so that I didn't fall again.

My wife bumped her elbow against a rock wall on one of the hairpin turns. Again, not a serious injury but I'm sure it hurt.

Unfortunately, there was one serious injury. One person hit her hand against a pole or post in the middle of the trail. Kira and a person from the bike company identified a nearby hospital. At the hospital, X-rays confirmed that she had a hairline fracture in her wrist. She got a cast and missed the winery (and unfortunately, the bungy jump) but rejoined us for the boat ride and farewell dinner.

There are three bridges I want to point out. The first is a swinging bridge:

I walked the bike over this bridge. One person who rode reported that it was a nerve wracking experience because the path moves up and down as you ride across.

The second bridge is a long, narrow one. For some reason I convinced myself that I was going to ride this one. The trick is to make sure it is clear and get up enough speed that you can keep the bike straight. I managed to get across without a problem.

The last bridge is the Kawarau Bridge. This is easy to ride across, although there are obstacles at one point that force you to dismount and walk part of the way. This is where we took a break to watch some bungy jumpers. Remember this bridge because we're coming back here later in the day.

The van with the trailer rides ahead of the groups and meets you a few times along the way. This gives you an opportunity to check in if there are any problems, or to bail if you've had enough. They will collect your bike and you can ride in the van to the Gibbston Winery. I think this was a good decision for some people.

If you are an experienced and capable bike rider, especially if you can handle trails on a mountain bike, then this activity will be no problem for you. It is a nice ride. But I strongly suggest that you make an accurate self assessment of your experience and skills before undertaking this. If you are a klutz like me, who hasn't ridden a bike in over 4 years, and the two pedals you're most familiar with are the gas and brake, then exercise caution. Don't be afraid to throw out your feet if you are having trouble, or to stop and walk the bike past obstacles. And it's perfectly fine to try it for a while and then bail when you meet the bike van and trailer. Don't feel compelled to bike the entire length.

 

[sayhello]

Thanks for the detailed report of the ebike ride. I was definitely leaning towards not doing this with my foot/knee issues, but your report has cemented that not doing it is the right decision. More time in Arrowtown is fine with me! All I'd need is to injure myself before a 13 hour flight back to the US.

Bungy jump??????

Sayhello

 

[mraviator]

Excellent e-bike writeup @Eastridge ! 100% spot on with the skill level assessment.

It was a lot of fun for my 14 year old daughter and I, but we both have bikes and e-bikes and use them regularly. I am thankful my wife chose the extended Arrowtown option though, as she had a bike injury due to gravel many years ago.

The gravel was a challenge in spots, especially with curves, even more with the few blind curves that were present. The left/write brake swap was tricky at first until I simply removed the front brake hand from the brake level and did most everything rear only. Since I did not run that morning, I also decided to bike everything without battery assistance for a workout, which is quite doable given that there were 7 or 8 gears to use (as long as I did not mind people zooming past me).

I was right behind the person who missed the post, nearly avoided it, but still hit it and fractured her wrist. It was not pretty, her bike handle bar tore a wood chunk out of the post. The post location was placed in a very bad spot, immediately after a near blind curve. I suspect this was not the first bike-post encounter.

 

[Eastridge]

Thanks for the detailed report of the ebike ride. I was definitely leaning towards not doing this with my foot/knee issues, but your report has cemented that not doing it is the right decision.

I was wondering how the bike ride in Japan compares with the NZ one. The videos I've seen of the Japan trip show that path is level and seems to be a much easier ride. Did you do that activity?

 

[Eastridge]

Day 11: Gibbston Valley Winery

ABD was wise to put the visit to the winery after the bike ride, rather than the other way around...

I was probably one of the last people to arrive, because when I got there, everyone else was seated for lunch and seemed to be halfway done. There is a small store carrying wine and cheese. The lunch included wine. The food was pizza and charcuterie. Some said the charcuterie was good. I was a little frazzled from the bike ride and the pizza was cold by the time I ate so I don't want to make any judgements here.

After lunch, we had wine tasting in the caverns where they store the wine. These caverns were drilled out and stay at the right temperature for the wine, without requiring air conditioning.

We got to try three wines: a Pinot Gris, a Rose and a Pinot Noir. I don't drink these so I can't tell you how good they were. Maybe someone else who has more expertise in wine can offer judgement. The guide from the winery said they have won awards for their Pinot Noir.

We also saw their "wine museum" where samples of every wine they have manufactured are stored, for reference.

The drinking age in NZ is 18, so some of the older teens could participate in the wine tasting. As for the rest? They stayed back in the room where we had lunch. The itinerary said they would do an olive oil infusion, but that didn't happen. Instead, they engaged in an, um, enthusiastic game of Do You Love Your Neighbor? (Look it up -- it's like musical chairs on steroids). My son reported that was much better, especially since some kids were, um, enthusiastic about beating each other to the open chairs...

 

[Eastridge]

Since I did not run that morning, I also decided to bike everything without battery assistance for a workout, which is quite doable given that there were 7 or 8 gears to use (as long as I did not mind people zooming past me).

The e-bike is really heavy, so I'm impressed you didn't use any assistance from the motor!

 

[Eastridge]

Day 11: Bungy jump [On your own]

To be clear: This is not part of the ABD itinerary! We did this on our own. Well, I just watched.

Queenstown is a good place if your idea of fun is trying to kill yourself and failing.

Remember that last bridge on the bike ride? That is the Kawarau Gorge bridge. It is the site of the AJ Hackett bungy jump, which is the first commercial bungy jump operation in the world. Their website states "We have been throwing people off things since 1988." So if you are going to bungy jump, this is a special place to do it.

After the lunch and wine tasting, everyone boarded the bus. The bus dropped me and a few others off at the bungy jump location and took everyone else back to the hotel. As I walked off the bus, I yelled that I was just the chaperone... My son and others had reserved jump times that they had coordinated with the guides to make this happen. So I got to hold everyone's bags, phones, etc. I also shot videos of each jump, but if you get the photo package you can get some spectacular shots like these:

My son survived, so I can't spend his college fund on another ABD trip​

After the jump, you probably need to use the facilities:

The staff helped us call a taxi back to the hotel, and we returned to the St. Moritz with plenty of time to spare before we had to meet up for the boat ride and farewell dinner.

 

[sayhello]

I was wondering how the bike ride in Japan compares with the NZ one. The videos I've seen of the Japan trip show that path is level and seems to be a much easier ride. Did you do that activity?

I did do the bike ride in Japan, and really enjoyed it. From what you have described, they are NOTHING alike! The Japan ride doesn't use e-bikes, *most* of the riding is on a fairly broad, very level, paved path (there's a brief bit right at the beginning where you have to ride on some streets to get from the outfitter's offices to where the path is, but it's not that bad or that long, and no-one seemed to have issues with it). It was pretty leisurely as bike rides go. Really beautiful scenery, too! I was hesitant about doing the bike ride due to back issues, but James, one of our Adventure Guides really encouraged me to do it. He felt I could easily do it and would really enjoy it. And he was right.

This was one of the narrower areas of the path.



A lot of it looked like this.



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