A long-time New Zealand acting star and her hubby trialled a car-free Queenstown holiday recently.
Auckland-based Shortland Street actor Nicole Whippy — who’s also been in TV series Outrageous Fortune and Mercy Peak — and her husband Tom Holden were invited down by local active travel group, The Lightfoot Initiative.
Lightfoot runs an annual ‘test the network’ challenge to highlight what’s possible, or impossible, without a car.
It provided the visitors with e-bikes and free bus and ferry travel.
However, their first two scheduled bus rides didn’t go to plan.
They flew in half-an-hour late, and finding the next bus wasn’t due for ages, carpooled into town with their cameraman.
And on Saturday they couldn’t put their e-bikes on their Arrowtown bus as one of its two bike racks had broken — they carpooled instead with Whippy’s long-time friend, Queenstown-based Katie Obermoser, who had room for three bikes.
They then e-biked to Gibbston’s Kinross winery, and back.
‘‘That was incredible,’’ Whippy says.
‘‘Every time I got a hill I did a cheer because I could get up it — though having a few drinks and coming back was quite the experience.’’
Once back in Arrowtown, where they offloaded their bikes, they did manage to bus back to Queenstown— ‘‘third time lucky’’, Whippy says.
On Sunday they took a ferry to Kelvin Peninsula, and were most impressed when their skipper told them to call her for a pickup when they were ready.
That night they’d also planned to bus to the airport, after dining at The Rees, but carpooled again when they ran out of time.
However, Whippy stresses carpooling was perfectly allowable — ‘‘we’re all about carpooling in Auckland because the traffic’s just ridiculous’’.
She gives their ‘test the network’ experience a 9 out of 10.
‘‘There’s always room for improvements … but it’s so easy to get around Queenstown car-free.
‘‘Just make sure you give yourself time, and always have a Plan B if something doesn’t work out.’’
