New Zealand, Day 5 (Boston Marathon registration day!)

As registration period for the Boston Marathon was occurring during my time in New Zealand and Australia, I made sure to make a note to register. And, well, this wasn't ACTUALLY the day (in the U.S.) when registration opened. What a tease, noting it on the wrong day, given the timezone difference (despite it being the correct date on the calendar.)

This day called for flying to Queenstown. It was rather amusing being in such a small airport in Rotorua that we were this close to the airplane while still sitting at the gate, and seeing the luggage being loaded.

While I had a brief layover in Auckland, onward to Queenstown. And the views even starting at the airport were great.

The driver that picked me up made a slight detour to a scenic overlook for a few minutes, and explained some of the things to avoid in town (between a couple of the taxi services and one of the restaurants). As with the greater sweep of the entire trip, every new vista was better than the last. The mountainside surrounding Queenstown was really quite special.

After checking in at the hotel, I walked down the hill to get to "downtown" Queenstown, and enjoyed  the vista en route.

Meandering around town, there were a couple of statues that stuck out, such as the Moa (extinct, huge native bird), and stopped in one of the stores that sells greenstone. I wound up getting dinner at a great steakhouse, Flame (boy, this place was HAPPENIN'!), and then dessert at the creamery and chocolaterie (Patagonia) that has a great view of the lake and enjoyed the sunset from upstairs.