Proposal: 10th July, 2023
Location: Queenstown, New Zealand

The Proposal

"Angus and I were travelling around New Zealand on a holiday that we had planned for awhile and were at our fourth location on the trip, in beautiful Queenstown. The night before at dinner, Angus reminded me from our holiday planning that we had a 6:30pm booking at the Onsen Hot Pools the following night, which is just outside of Queenstown. During the day of the proposal, we explored the Queenstown Botanical Gardens, had a packed lunch on the foreshore of Queenstown, followed by a ride on the famous gondola and had a lot of fun on The Luge at the top of the mountain with some friendly competition. Following this, we went to hire our ski gear for the next three planned days of skiing at the Remarkables and Coronet Peak. After we had picked up our ski gear, we went back to our accommodation, quickly packed our bathers and headed to the Onsen Hot Pools.

When we got there, we were told that we had a complimentary ice cream each as part of our package. After we made our flavour selections, we were told that our pool wasn't quite ready and to please take a seat in the very peaceful waiting room. A few minutes in, Angus said that he needed to go to the bathroom but quickly returned within about 30 seconds and said that they were in "cleaning" (little did I know that the pool wasn't quite ready to set himself up for the proposal.) A short while later, one of the workers came and apologised again and explained that our pool would be another 15 minute wait due to electrical issues (apparently the pools are heated through hydroelectricity so it was very believable.) Shortly after this, I suggested that Angus was to check on the bathroom again so that he could go before we were called for our pool. He agreed and went down the stairs to the bathroom. Shortly after, a different worker approached me and said that our pool was ready and to follow him. I explained that my partner was still in the bathroom and asked if we should wait for him. He said, "That's ok, we will collect him on the way through and show him where to go". I agreed and followed this gentleman down the stairs. When we got to the bottom, we reached a corridor with multiple doors. A few steps later, the man pointed to a door and said, "This is your pool". I asked him again, "Should I wait for my partner before I enter?" and he said, "Don't worry, you can head on in". As I slowly opened the door, I vividly remember that the room was very dim and candlelit, and the first thing I saw was one of the white hearts from the beautiful display around the pool. As the door swung completely open, Angus was on one knee behind the door and that's when he asked me to marry him. In complete shock, I said a huge "YES" and couldn't believe that our moment had arrived. It was perfect!

We spent the following hour in the hot pool debriefing on everything relating to the lead up to the proposal such as the ring, our families and of course, our beautiful love story. This is also when I found out that the staff were in on the whole thing and that Angus had spent a lot of time planning it with their team in the lead up to the special day. I also couldn’t believe that the ring had travelled with him all the way from Australia and that he had it hidden with him for the first week of the trip.

After the proposal, we celebrated with a special dinner together in the heart of Queenstown. We had another amazing week and a half living in our 'engagement bubble' and I couldn't stop staring at my beautiful ring as we continued our adventures through the gorgeous countryside of New Zealand. We loved sharing our exciting news with our family and friends over the next couple of days. This will definitely be a trip to remember and Queenstown will always hold a very special place in our hearts!"