After persisting through the longest day that never existed, I finally emerged from the plane eager to make get my last flight. Following the signs, I made my way out of the international terminal. Once past security and customs, I decided to check the baggage carousel before making my way to the domestic terminal. Finding my bag at the baggage carousel was fortunate and unnerving as I was told back in BOS when I checked it that I would pick it up in ZQN after all the flights. With bag in hand, I went to recheck it and ended up having to take the next available flight to ZQN which would be an additional 2 hour wait. The baggage check attendant then directed me to the domestic terminal telling me to head out the double doors and follow the green line. Fully expecting the green line to be a shuttle service, I laughed at myself when I stepped outside to find a literal green line on the ground. I followed it for about half a mile at which point I reached the domestic terminal. Sitting down at the gate waiting for boarding to begin, I was shaking from the sheer stress caused by the various relatively unknown situations I had endured over the past 48 hours and covered in a disgusting amount of sweat from having worn the wrong clothes for traveling. As well, my pants kept falling down as if they were a few sizes too big which left me to regret packing my belt in my checked bag.
In a few short hours, I arrived at ZQN and after grabbing my suitcase I was ready to take on New Zealand. I took a shuttle bus leaving the airport that dropped me off across the street from the hotel in where the tour would begin. Inside the hotel, I made my way to the assigned room, opened the door, and peered inside. What I saw was 8 sleeping pods (4 on each side of the room with 2 on top, 2 on bottom) and about 50 square feet (~4.6 square meters for those metric-minded people) of floor space. I picked my bed and immediately went to have a nice long shower.
The Contiki group arrived not long after and I began to introduce myself to a few members. I was soon explained to that this tour was modular meaning that group members would be joining and others would be leaving at different points along the trip. This cleared up some minor confusions I had. After a few brief introductions we made our way to the gondola station to head up to the Skylounge restaurant. The first glimpse of wildlife were the few goats standing on the mountainside as the gondolas soared up over them. Up top, the view out across Queenstown was astounding, capturing both the high-energy of a busy city and the beauty of the natural surroundings.
Before long, we were ushered in to the dining area to gorge ourselves on an all-you-can-eat buffet style meal. I had what I believe was the most “colorful” plate of food in my recent memory, consisting of a chicken breast and leg, a few slices of roast beef, carrots, fries, and white rice with a serving of creme brulee for dessert. However, to most people my plate was probably just as bland as any other large meal I had ever eaten. After enjoying the delicious dinner, we made our way back down the gondolas and over to a nightclub. Still trying to get my bearings and recover from the last 2 days of constant traveling, I decided I would not partake in the craziness this night, but instead I stood to the side and observed as I tend to do. I left a bit earlier than everyone else to go turn in for the night back at the hotel.
No Regrets: The Only Way To Live 