Day Thirteen … Exploring Queenstown

Today was our first day back to just being the two of us on our adventures in the south. Ian had spent some time last night mapping out our plans for the day so we were ready to start exploring again.

We were up and away by about 8.30 am. There was no real need to rush as our first destination didn’t open until 9.30, which gave us time to wander Queenstown and find some breakfast. Now I cannot recommend Fergbakery enough. The queue to order was out on the street but the super efficient staff had it moving pretty quickly. The bakery was filled with pies, breakfast wraps, baps, focaccias and a cabinet of glorious cakes. We ordered what we wanted and headed back outside to wait for our orders to be filled. We then wandered to a nearby seat to enjoy … Ian had the breakfast wrap which had a hash brown, bacon, chorizo sausage, scrambled egg, spinach and relish; and I had a bacon and egg pie and a cappuccino. It was superb.

We then headed up the hill to the base of the gondola, bought our tickets to ride to the top and our 6 ride passes for the luge. Now prior to the trip I said I wasn’t going on the luge but then I watched the YouTube videos and thought ‘why not’ … and I’m so glad I did. We had a ball! You travel to the top of the gondola (which we had done last week at the start of our Ben Lomond hike) and then head to the luge chairlift, looking out at the paraglides as you go. The chairlift takes you higher to the start of the track. Once at the top you get a quick lesson on how to ride the luge and you are then allowed to ride the easier track called The Arrow.

It was fantastic! Such an adrenaline rush, but not too scary. Just fun! You end up back at the bottom of the chairlift and depending on how many luge rides you purchased you just keep going round and round. I rode the Arrow twice, then advanced to the steeper and twistier Dart (which I did twice) and then the Arrow and the Dart to end. Ian did the Dart more than me … as he is more of a thrill seeker.

At the end you scan your helmet and can see the photos that have been taken as you rode the chairlift or flew down the tracks. We picked out our photos, had them printed and emailed to us before heading back to the top of the gondola for an ice cream and heading back down to the bottom. Ian picked Rum and Raisin and I had Hokey Pokey.

Once at the bottom we headed to pick up our next hire car only to discover that the Budget office in the Queenstown CBD was closed and our car was at the airport. So, we grabbed a cab and headed to the very, very crowded airport … crowded as a result of the floods in Auckland with countless flights cancelled. After the usual paperwork and multiple form filling in we managed to get our car … a cute little golden Yaris Cross and continued on our way.

We headed out to Arrowtown which is an old historic gold mining town. It was absolutely gorgeous. We had leftover pizza from last night’s dinner sitting in a beautiful green park, watching the birds flying about and singing their songs. We then wandered along the old streets, stopping to look at the shop fronts and read the historic signs that told the story of the buildings. We completed an Ad Lab which took us to some of the most notable buildings. I had one quick glance in a shop (nice skirt … $269!) before deciding it was out of my league.

We finished our visit in Arrowtown with a visit to the local library, a drive around the side streets and a short walk to the river. We then headed back towards Queenstown for our next stop which was at the Botanic Gardens.

The gardens run alongside Lake Wakitipu and there were two Ad Labs within the gardens (one of which we had started on our first night in Queenstown a week ago). The gardens are glorious. Massive trees, huge rocks, a rose garden, pond, band stand, and playground. There are garden beds filled with colour … roses, lilies, dahlias and daisies. One of our Ad Labs took us to statues scattered throughout the gardens. There was a frisbee golf course as well and we watched a large group (bucks party … based on the poor guy dressed in a tutu and fairy wings) fling their frisbee in the hope to get it close to the goal. We also stumbled upon a wedding … which just makes me happy.

We then headed back to our accomodation for a little rest and relaxation ahead of our dinner cruise on Lake Wakitipu. Our 2 hr cruise, complete with a three course meal, travelled gently across the lake. It was a beautiful way to see a different view of Queenstown and the lake and to see places that we had been and roads we had driven. The meal was incredible … the entree was breads with various condiments, main was three different meats, potatoes, vegetable skewers and coleslaw. We finished with chocolate brownies and carrot cake. What a lovely way to finish our time in Queenstown.

Today’s tally …

Photos taken …256

Steps walked … 16,713

Kms walked … 12.77 km

Ad labs completed … 3

Luge rides … 6