Getting Sorted in Queenstown!

Sydney Airport. Still unaware of my missing luggage.

It was quite a journey but after many hours of airports, planes and busses I finally made it all the way across the world. I had a layover in Auckland for the night. Sure enough the airlines “misplaced” my checked luggage. Needless to say I was short some of the bare essentials of survival for an undetermined amount of time. Surprisingly, I wasn’t too upset. I'm not sure if it's because I was tired or I'd encountered many unfortunate events in the past and really, there was nothing I could do about it. So... Whatever. 

First thing was first; I needed to get a local phone number so the airline could contact me when they found my bags. The next step was to find a place to sleep for the night. I looked up a hostel that was in the city but still on the bus line so that my return to the airport in the morning would be breezy.

On the bus to the city I met a sweet English girl that was also traveling solo. We happen to be going to the same hostel so decided to buddy up for the night.

This was my very first hostel experience.  My room was a cubbyhole with no windows and 2 bunk beds. The 2 other occupants had managed to spread their things all over the room. We could barely open the door. So Beth and I dropped our bags and went out for a well-deserved beer.

After a bit of a chat and the Irish Pub, Beth disclosed that it was her birthday the following day. Even though we were both completely exhausted I wanted her to have a bit of a celebration.

We spoke with some locals and got a recommendation to head down to a pub called Danny Doolan’s for some live music and dancing. So we grabbed one of our other roommates Nathan and went for a dance.

Due to the bat cave of a room I was in at Base Hostel I almost didn’t wake up in time for my flight. I rushed as quickly as I could to the bus and crossed my fingers I would make it in time.

Luckily, I made it just in time. Unluckily, my flight was delayed 4 hours. The ground attendants kept announcing, “thirty more minutes ladies and gentlemen”. I still wasn’t too bothered though. Who cares if I’ve been wearing the same clothes for the 3 days? It wasn’t as if I was in a rush or had anyone to impress at the moment.

At this point it still hadn’t really hit me that I was really where I was. I didn’t actually feel the butterflies in my stomach until we began the descend into Queenstown. The mountain peaks began to pop out from the clouds and then everything became so clear. I began to squeal a bit. The people next to me had all been to Queenstown before, so they knew my feeling and only thought I was a little weird. 

Once we landed and walk into baggage claim, I could not wipe the smile off my face. This place was stunning and I hadn’t even made it out of the airport yet.

From the airport I called a random hostel to check for vacancies. They happen to have a bed open so I jumped on the bus and headed to Adventure Queenstown Hostel.

AQH was quite impressive. It was extremely clean. The bathrooms were really fancy.  The kitchen was nice and the living room had the most comfortable couches ever! The beds were super comfortable and the staff was absolutely lovely. I settled into my room, met the roommates and hung out with everyone in the kitchen. It was a very social place.

I only booked for one night because I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it there. Well I did and I wanted to stay! Fortunately with room switching almost every morning they were able to find a bed for me. I got lucky. Most people had to leave for a night or so and come back when there was space.

Eating breakfast at AQ staring at THIS!

Early morning on the from balcony at AQ

One of my many rooms of the week

Just reading a book in my cozy bunk bed

Nearing sunset. Love the colors!!

The first week was pretty busy. I didn’t want to waste any time. I needed a job and a home along with EVERYONE else in this little town. Well, I landed a job within a week but the home thing was beginning to feel impossible. I was loosing all hope when one day a friend of mine put me in touch with a friend of his that already had a place and was looking for a roommate! I got in touch with her right away, set up a meeting the next morning and BAM! I found an amazing condo for the season with 3 other lovely ladies!

Before the snow

Views from home sweet home!

Things are finally coming together and I’m getting settled in nicely. Next week is 10 days of Winterfest in Queenstown. It’s a festival to kick off the winter season and supposedly it’s epic! Can’t wait for the festivities to arrive!