Coming back home to the USA from New Zealand we had a pretty crazy itinerary that had a total of 5 flights. This included a 5 hour 45 minute layover in Wellington and an overnight in Sydney, all before getting on the long flight to San Francisco. While not ideal we did make the most this crazy flight schedule. Keep in mind I used airline miles to get all the flights for free. We were fortunate enough to have business class to Australia but on the way home all flights were back in economy.

Overall our trip down under was more than amazing. We stayed with some amazing friends in Melbourne to get a more local experience but we also went out on our own to explore both the Great Ocean Road and Queenstown. It was a truly wonderful experience and we can’t wait to go back!

Beth and I had an amazing five day adventure in Queenstown, New Zealand. Queenstown is one of the most beautiful places we had ever visited and the DoubleTree by Hilton Queenstown was a perfect place to stay at. Before coming to Queenstown we had spent a week with some friends in Melbourne, Australia and also drove the amazing Great Ocean Road. All this was part of our itinerary to visit both Australia and New Zealand thanks to free award tickets and in business class!

Back to the hotel we stayed at, the DoubleTree by Hilton Queenstown which is situated right on the water that connects to the beautiful Lake Wakatipu. Being a hotel point and airline mile aficionado I managed to get the room for free using 120,000 points for five nights. It runs between 25,000 – 30,000 points per night depending on the time of the year and as a Hilton Honors Diamond elite I received the fifth award night free! All elites do!

5 Full Days to Explore Queenstown!

Wow just wow! That was our first impressions of Queenstown as we walked off the plane and onto the tarmac. Literally everywhere we turned there were incredible mountains and crystal clear lakes. We had just spent an amazing week in Melbourne and touring the Great Ocean Road, both amazing experiences. With that being said we were caught off guard with how pretty New Zealand is.

To get to Queenstown we were able to tack on a free stopover on our award ticket to Australia. For more info on how I was able to get all the flights for free check here. In summary I got two people to both Australia and New Zealand with half of it in business class for free. Only had to pay the taxes! Hotel wise we stayed at DoubleTree Queenstown the bulk of the time and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Beth and I just finished up our amazing trip to Australia and New Zealand! Our journey took us to Melbourne where Beth student taught at and made some wonderful friends. From there we tried driving on the left side on the amazing Great Ocean Road. On a final stint we hiked and explored Queenstown, New Zealand, the adventure capital of the world. We also somehow managed to squeeze in a night in Sydney and 5 hours in Wellington. More on our adventures in future posts but first I would like to detail out how we got there!