The 218-mile drive from Franz Josef to Queenstown takes about 5 hours, so the Adventures by Disney New Zealand itinerary breaks that up with several short stops along the way. It made for a fun and varied day, allowing us to see a lot of the South Island before arriving at our final stop of the trip. We hit the road at 8:00 am and made our way to Knight’s Point.
A stone obelisk marks the merger of two highway projects that were completed in 1965, connecting the west stretch of the coast on the South Island.
There’s also a beautiful lookout point of the Tasman Sea. This was also the second of many scheduled bathroom breaks, although these toilets are what’s known as a “long drop,” and our Adventure Guides promised that better restrooms would be available at the next stop.
Haast has brand-new public restrooms that have a ten-minute time limit per use, with a recorded voice reminding you of how much time you have left. This stop is also near the Spiker Cafe, so anyone in need of a pick-me-up had time to grab a coffee or a snack.
The next opportunity to stretch our legs came at Thunder Creek Falls, a short 5-minute walk from the road. Our Adventure Guides took photos of each family in front of this 91-foot-tall waterfall that feeds the Haast River.
A rain-free rainbow sits at the bottom.
Our lunch stop was at the Makarora Country Cafe, which is sort of like a Cracker Barrel but with cafeteria-style ordering. The menu includes meat and vegetable pies, fish and chips, sandwiches, salads, and lots of dessert items, including ice cream. The interior is decorated with turn-of-the-century relics and license plates from all over the world.
We then proceeded to Wanaka for the next lengthy stop. First, we pulled in by the lake to see #ThatWanakaTree, New Zealand’s most famous tree. She rests on a sandbar just beyond the shore, and through a hashtag that went viral, millions of visitors flock to the lake to get a selfie with her.
The town of Wanaka is picturesque, with lots of quaint shops and one of the best gelato shops in the country. Our Adventure Guides had been building up Black Peak Gelato as we made our way toward the town, but it became a must-do when they told us that ice cream was on Mickey Mouse. So, naturally, we made it our first stop. I got two scoops sourced from locally-grown fruits – Black Doris Plum and Feijoa. And what’s that on the counter?
It’s our Pin of the Day! The title of today’s adventure was “Do You Wanaka,” and since the roads to get here were so windy, Goofy made for the perfect mascot.
We had about an hour to shop and explore the lakeside village, which also had lots of bars and cafes. We fell in love with Thieving Kea, especially when one of the employees got very excited about meeting other Disney fans. They sold hats, jewelry, fragrances, candles, and my favorite, lucky charms with decidedly Disney phrases like “make a wish” on them.
By the way, I can’t stress enough how entertained we were along every stretch of the drive. Our New Zealand Adventure Guide, Danny, was a fountain of knowledge, sharing stories about the locations we were passing. And Dusty kept the fun going with a 32-track game of “Name That Disney Tune,” with score sheets passed around and two points for the correct song title and what it was from (it included a mix of movies, TV theme songs, and Disney Parks classics). And for the final stretch of the journey, we started watching Pixar’s Up.
Our final stop before Queenstown was Mrs. Jones’s Fruit Stall in Cromwell, which has public bathrooms, a lush rose garden, plus fresh and dried fruits and vegetables for sale. Ginger is a popular item in New Zealand, and I was happy to find candied ginger there. They even had chocolate-covered ginger.
Our arrival in Queenstown began with a bus tour of the city’s hot spots before we arrived at our lakeside resort, Hotel St. Moritz.
National Geographic Expeditions also uses this resort, and every guest room features an assortment of magazine issues from the past.
Each room booked with Adventures by Disney has a view of the lake.
After settling in, dinner was a family-style pizza and pasta experience in the hotel’s restaurant, Lombardi, which is also where we go for our complimentary breakfast for the rest of our stay.
Tomorrow we set out for some adventures in Glenorchy, home to many filming locations from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Check back each day to follow along on our Adventures by Disney trip to New Zealand.
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