Flight Centre’s Rob Cianchino blogs from New Zealand about his holiday in Christchurch and Queenstown. Rob’s pictures tell the story of what an incredible vacation he must have had on his travels.

New Zealand has been a destination that I have always wanted to go to. So given the opportunity to attend this tour I couldn’t pass it up. I had never been on a plane for longer than 9 hours and I was about to embark on a 13 hour and 45 minute flight on Air New Zealand. My excitement was in over drive and when we sat in our seats of this huge 747 I found that the leg room was more than adequate at 34′ pitch, which put me at ease. The flight crew were congenial and attentive and I would definitely fly with them again.

Christchurch was our first stop of a 7 day tour starting on the south island. Christchurch reminded me of a quaint town in the U.K, very postcard like. Next we were headed to Mount Cook on a beautiful drive to The Hermitage hotel. The views from our rooms were directly opposite Mount Cook. The next morning we awoke to a spectacular sunrise unlike anything I have seen before with oranges, reds and brilliant colours; one of the highlights of the trip!

Our next stop was Queenstown for a few days. The morning included a picturesque drive through windy roads and mountains and it followed the shoreline of Lake Wakatipu to Millford sound. We boarded Milford Sound’s Red Boat for a spectacular cruise with views of Mitre Peak and teh glacier scarred rock walls rising 1200 metres from the sea were impressive. The waterfalls that tumble from the hanging valleys and crash into the Sound far below were truly graceful. We had a few days of action packed activities. The most energizing Shotover Jet boat is a must if you visit Queenstown! It’s a jet ride that goes down the Shot River as it twists and turns through narrow canyons at breathtaking speeds! My highlight was the world famous Shotover Jet full 360 degrees spins!

Perhaps due to the fullness of our itinerary and the richness of the experiences we could have used a few more days to be fully appreciate the splendor of this impressive country.

Milford Sound, New Zealand is highlighted on the Flight Centre travel map.

Rob Cianchino is at the Flight Centre Library Square in Vancouver, BC and can be reached at 1 866 275 1150.

Categories: Destinations

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Destinations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.