New Zealand with the Grandchildren

Well, here we are in Queenstown, NZ with our grandchildren and their parents.

We were up early on Monday morning to catch an Air New Zealand flight direct into Queenstown. it was a very uneventful flight across a featureless Tasman Sea, however once we crossed the west coast of the South Island, we flew over some spectacular alpine scenery.

We crossed the coast near Milford Sound and could see rugged inlets, high mountain peaks covered in snow and small lakes scattered thought the mountains. The last leg into Queenstown was down a narrow valley where we could look up out of the plane at the peaks on either side. When we landed the crew told us that we had to exit by the front door using the Ear Steers. I looked around, but couldn’t see any cattle anywhere so I just walked down the steps and crossed over to the terminal.

It pays to travel with little children as we were ushered to the front of the immigration queue and were some of the first to clear immigration, even though we were amongst the last off the plane. We found our rental cars quickly and after a short drive into town found our apartments which have a splendid view over the lake. We were treated to a spectacular sunset on our first night and hope that this is a sign of a very bright holiday.