Destination one, Queenstown

I've wanted to see the snow, touch the snow, being able to ski and do many other unimaginable stuff....on snow. Seems like everything is so pure and white....and fun. Can't explain the feeling, but seeing snow (in the movie) gave me warm and fuzzy feeling. It was years ago, when I was just 5 or 6 years old. Years pass and not one opportunity to see the snow came. I know I had to act if I want to start to tick my list (my list consist of bungy jumping, swimming with dolphin, climb mount everest...no..not really), so about 4 months ago, I've planned my next travel destination and it had to be a snow country. The closest and the most possible one is New Zealand so I contacted my sister and she agreed to go with me. Here I am now, in Queenstown. One of the most beautiful city in New Zealand.

I boarded the plane on 28 June at night and arrived at New Zealand the next day at around 10 am for a stopover in Auckland. I didn't have enough sleep on the plane last night and the night before, I studied for my exam. So it's a suffering comes in complete package because I love my sleep and I couldn't get any for two the last two days. I arrived in Queenstown suffering jet lag and backache (for trying to sleep on the airport bench), as if it's not enough, the weather in Queenstown was bad when the plane was scheduled to land. So we were flying around in circle for another hour, waiting for the weather to improve. My attitude was change in a matter of second, from mesmerized by the view below (snow covered mountains) to "Get me out of this...(beep)...plane!"

But my spirit quickly soar when we finally landed. I saw the sign "Welcome to Queenstown" and thought, I can't believe I'm here! As planned, I catch the shuttle to the hotel. During the trip, the scenery was amazing. Feels like I'm in Switzerland or Austria and it's only the island next to Australia. We drop some people in their hotels along the way and I thought, Man, this is far...this is the middle of nowhere...and then things start to improve. I started to see more people, more shops and...my hotel, right in the middle of the town centre!

This is the view from my hotel room. (I know it's a bit dark, but this is the best shot I can get, ok?)

As if it's not good enough, when I see my room, it's facing the river. The famous Shotover River...and I'll get to see it everyday. Now, we stayed in a backpacker, but our room was the one with bathroom and can be occupied for two people only. Backpacker price with a million dollar view! It doesn't get any better than that. The down side was the other guests who didn't get this view tried to get a slice of our good fortune too. Because our balcony can be access from the hotel's entrance, the other guests were using it to relax, have a chat, smoking...etc and they did it mostly at night. We can hear them chatter while we try to sleep. Why is everything so good has to come with a high price? Even though it doesn't always come in the form of money.

Anyway, I decided to explore this town while waiting for my sister to arrive (her flight was from Melbourne and four hours behind my plane schedule). My...this town is really small. After half an hour, I got bored walking along the same street again and again. I collected as many attraction brochure as I can while walking along the town. One thing for sure, I'm not wasting any time here. Starting tomorrow we have to do something already.

That night I opened my luggage and found....no hairdryer! Omigosh...how could I survive without hairdryer?