NZ domestic flights are a stark reminder of how our travel used to be. I didn’t have to show ID to get on the plane. Didn’t have to take my shoes off going through security. Showed up 40 minutes before the flight with time to spare.
Flying into Queenstown is neat. You approach the town, circle over it, down into a valley over a lake and approach runway. When you break through the clouds, the surrounding mountains are literally right there, a stark difference than landing at any U.S. airport. The pilot is polite and even warns you that it is normal and not to be alarmed!
T-Mobile and/or Samsung suck. Since turning on international roaming for my account, I have kept it disabled on the phone. Every time I use it, a popup warns me charges could be high, do I want to disable it. I always select yes. In 24 hours, the time hasn’t updated to reflect local time because data is off. Today, I turned it on for 30 seconds to check weather and immediately got a text saying I hit the $50 mark for roaming fees. What. The. Fuck.
I haven’t loaded apps that use data, nothing should be updating and I selected to disable data roaming every time it asked. The text message said I could disable it via USSB code… dial #763# so I did. Not 20 seconds later, same popup asking if I want to disable data roaming. Either the phone’s software is buggy, T-Mobile’s service is buggy, or both.
Stopped in Garston, an hour outside of Queenstown, at a cafe. Eggs benedict with bacon over english muffins, was really good.
Lots of sheep on this drive. Lots. Then stopped at a glacier, met a Kea. I thought the bird was fabulous, but apparently they are considered a major nuisance.
If someone says they need a quickie, don’t start undressing. They could mean a ‘quick-eze’, to alleviate an upset stomach. If not, then start removing clothing.
Milford Sound is beautiful, a two hour cruise there is well worth the time. Two small colonies of New Zealand Fur Seals to see. Unfortunately, the rare penguins that nest there do so between August and December. If you opt for this cruise, ask for a discount because of the false advertising. Milford Sound is actually not a sound, it is a fjord. Big difference; can’t trust a Kiwi…
Americans have (and cherish) their Baseball. The rest of the world has Cricket. While I am still trying to figure out this game, it is clear that it holds about the same excitement and pace as Baseball. Seems to require a bit more skill as they don’t use gloves though.
Te Anau, the town we’re in, is close to 45 degrees longitude. That results in the sun going down close to 10p during the summer.
More pictures of the sound:
