Surely A Travel Addict: New Zealand (South Island)

Next destination: Queenstown

It is a 5.5 hours of drive (362 km) from Franz Josef to Queenstown via Wanaka, Haast Pass, Cromwell and the windy Crown Range Road.

Along the drive, we have passed by Mount Aspiring, Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka.

Crown Range Road is one of the highlights for the drive. It is the highest main road in New Zealand with lots of zig zags road and Crown Terrace is a good spot to take photos.

Reflections - Lake Wanaka

With Mount Aspiring as our backdrop

Lake Hawea

Awesome views from Crown Terrace

My lovely besties who are always there for me

One of my favourite shots: "Dear Beautiful Scenery, I am captivated by you."

Bestie and I chillax-ing

Making Queenstown as our base, we had day trips to the nearby Coronet Peak to check out skiing and explore Glenorchy-Paradise.

It takes approximately 30 minutes drive to Coronet Peak and 1 hour to Glenorchy-Paradise from Queenstown.

The journey to Glenorchy-Paradise is breathtaking, with scenes from Lord of the Ring appearing right in your face. Along the way, we passed by Lake Wakatipu, farmlands, beech forest and river streams.

Our sturdy car has proofed its strength with some crossings of small river streams without any glitch.

“Paradise” is worth its name, not just metaphorically but also laterally; if there is heaven on earth, I believe this place would be the closest.

Beware that this area has a lot of sand flies, we were greeted by the many sand files, so do apply plenty of insect repellent if you are heading there.

After a long day out, we rewarded ourselves with the famous Fergburger at Queenstown, a BIG ✔ CHECKED for this Kiwi trip must-do list. Do also try out Mrs Ferg's Gelato which is just 2 shops away from Fergburger; personally I liked their Manuka Gelato.