what to do at queenstown – Fledgling Travelers

Awesome view during roadtrip to Glenorchy

Clean roads, magnificent mountains, serene lake, cute cafes that is what you will find in Glenorchy

A walk around the swamp is about 30mins – it was awesome

Glenorchy

What is there in Glenorchy?

Our first reaction after reaching Glenorchy was OH MY GOD. It has breathtaking beautiful landscapes. To add to this you can do so many fun activities. Engulfed between, mountains, forests, lake Wakatipu, this awe-inspiring beautiful place has been a movie set for movies such as Lord Of the Rings, Narnia, X-Men wolverine

How to reach Glenorchy?

Glenorchy is about 45km from Queenstown. You can hire a car from Queenstown and drive to this place, this is the best way to reach, as you would want to make pit stops now and then and enjoy the drive which is amazing too.

When you look down you realize how far you have reached and yet not close

You don’t need to have GPS for this drive as there is only one road leading to the place.

A single, straight road from Queenstown to Glenorchy

Where to stay in Glenorchy?

Glenorchy is a very small town, but it has some beautiful cafes and hotels/motels. If you are planning to stay Glenorchy then do get bookings done in advance.

As soon as you enter Glenorchy, there is a tourist information centre where you can find all the necessary information.

Ahh..lunch time at Glenorchy…nice cute cafe..loved it

What to do in Glenorchy?

Kayaking, trekking, horse riding, mountain biking, snowboarding, skydiving, boating, jet boating and many more. There is Dart river which is famous for kayaking. All the information regarding activities can acquired at Queenstown and Glenorchy.

You can either do aforementioned activities orrrr choose to take a nap like me

Apart from Kayaking which is famous in Glenorchy, Routeburn track also passes from Glenorchy. It is a must do track (takes around 3 days) but make sure you get the bookings done in advance as they are booked 6months in advance.

Our Experience of Glenorchy.

Glenorchy was one of the most beautiful town in NZ. Though we weren’t able to do Kayaking or any other activity, but still we enjoyed the whole place. We spent about 4 hrs in Glenorchy as we didn’t want to do any activity. But you can spend a whole day there doing nothing and just enjoying the beautiful town and still can’t get enough of it.

Fox Glacier

What is there in Fox Glacier?

Alert: River flowing in the background can rise up to 5ft in 5 sec (approx)

I am still happy that river has not risen yet…can go to the fox glacier

The glacier is melting and is covered with mud – it was summer that time (mind it!!)

Fox Glacier is 13 km long glacier. It provides one of the rare chance to walk on or around glacier, or to see the top view of the glacier. Its a magnificent site. To add to its charm, the drive from Queenstown to Fox Glacier is mesmerizing as the highway is a UNESCO world natural heritage site. I would definitely recommend driving on highway. On the way you cross many wineries, Clutha river (famous for gold), Cromwell town, and great many lakes.

Cooks Village is the closest town to Fox Glacier. That is where you can stay, and book your activities. From Cooks village, you can see Mt Cook. It is the highest peak of New Zealand.

Panoramic view from the place we stayed in

Our cute little place where we stayed put for the night

How to reach Fox Glacier?

It is river for gold mining – en route to fox glacier

I have no words to explain anything like this – enroute to Fox Glacier

Is it just me or you also think this is from a fairy tale book

Reached the top – took us 30 mins of walk to go uphill – time well spent

You can rent a car from Queenstown or you can book a trip through some travel agent. I would suggest that you should definitely drive to Fox Glacier. The route is amazing. On the way there are many places where you can stops and enjoy a short or long trails and views of oceans, creeks, lakes, forest, hill top. Though the drive is of 4 hrs from Queenstown, but you can spend almost the whole day or more as the drive is amazing to Fox Glacier.

When you rent a car, make sure you talk to owners about the drop place. We had picked up the car from Queenstown city, but dropped it at airport ( as they had a pick up service from airport), hence we didn’t had to travel to Queenstown city to drop the car and from there take a cab to airport. You can also hire a car in one city and drop it in other city. This is not specific to any particular car rental shop, so try and make your trip convenient by talking before hand. Try Avis, Budget, Ace rental services; many options are available, so check the price and car type and make an informative choice.

The icey cold waterfall -it was just awesome to be there..

The road was definitely highway to heaven.. 🙂

Do you need GPS for this?

You don’t need any GPS for this route, as there is only one route and you can’t go wrong, and you will hear that from the locals also.

Where to stay in Fox Glacier?

We had stayed at Lake Matheson Motel in Cook’s Village. Its a very well kept motel, and you can see Mt Cook from it. Otherwise there are many motels and hotels in Cook’s Village. Cook’s Village is half an hour drive from Fox Glacier.

What to do in Fox Glacier/ Cook’s Village?

Lake Matheson – the reflection is hypnotizing

Walk around lake Matheson was about an hour long

1.Glacier Walk: There are tour operators which take you for glacier walk. They provide all the equipment for the walk. Professional help is required for this walk. Check FoxGuide for more details.

2.Helihike: You can also take 20 mins Helicopter ride to look at the glacier from the top. Take the morning slot as that is the best time. FoxGuide also operate this.

3.Lake Matheson: The best time to visitis in evening or in the morning. There is 40 mins forest trail walk for this lake. We went in evening and we have to literally walk in the clouds to reach this lake. This lake is 10 mins drive from Cook’s Village and is very serene and mirror-like.

4. Gillepies Beach: Though we were not able to go to this beach as we didn’t have time. But the locals love this place. The road to this beach is quite treacherous and you need lot more than 5-6 hours time to visit and come back again.

5. Hike around the place.

6. Sky dive at Fox Glacier.

Helihike, sky dive, glacier walks are bit expensive (10k -20k pp), but walk to Lake Matheson and Gillespies beach, Fox glacier is free.

Our Experience of Fox Glacier/ Cook’s Village.

The way Romans used to shit..first hand(luckily my own) experience

This experience was the best experience of the complete New Zealand trip. You should never miss the drive to Fox Glacier (we will tell you this every… 🙂 ). We tasted best farm fruits, best wines on the way. We had started in morning around 9 am and reached around 4 pm to Fox Glacier. Driving by the lake for miles is very amazing, and rain made was cherry on the cake.

The only regret we have is that we didn’t stay there for long. I would suggest that you spend at least 2 full days in Cook’s Village and keep ample time for the drive. Make as many stops on the way as you can during the drive(telling you again…. 🙂 ), it is the best.