Sorry this has taken so long!!!
For my Birthday weekend, Lauren, Alex, Stephanie, Steffen, and I all decided to head to Melbourne for the weekend. It had been a few weeks since we had come back from New Zealand, and it was clearly time to be away from Toowoomba. The travel was a little hectic: Toowoomba city bus, Toowoomba transit, goldcoast train, taxi, plane, bus, walk to the hostel in Melbourne. The way home was very similar. Basically two 10 hour travel days.
Our hostel in Melbourne was very.... eclectic, and not terribly clean. The only reason we stayed there was because it was basically free. Their website said online that for three of those four nights we were staying the rate was only $.01. Now, this shocked many of us, so we even called to check before we booked. We were told that this was indeed the correct price. However, when we arrived to the hostel with our booking confirmations, we were clearly told that this rate was a mistake. I did manage to negotiate the rate... and we were given the $.01/night rate. There is a common phrase however, and I believe it is: you get what you pay for. And we did.
The slats holding my mattress up rarely liked to actually hold my mattress up, and the slightest move of the mattress sent me flying to the ground. This ended up providing for a fair bit of comic relief. They also offered us free breakfast every morning: white bread, butter, and jelly. But it was free, and that's all that really matters.
We arrived late Thursday night, climbed into bed (and fell), and got ready to enjoy Friday. We spent Friday walking all around the city. We ate tons of food, rode the tram around the city, went to a MASSIVE outdoor market selling crafts, cheap things, and tons of food. After we had walked more than our little feet could believe, we decided to go and watch a Rugby game (Australian rules.) Now, this may be the most confusing sport I have ever watched. It was a cross between NFL and soccer... but it took us most of the game, and heaps of questions to the people sitting around us, to kind of, almost, slightly know what was going on at the end. The team we decided to cheer for, the Collingwood Magpies (GO PIES!), ended up winning in the end, so all was well. At this point, it was about 11:00pm and almost my birthday, so we went to the nearest pub so I could have my first drink as a 21 year old. We all had a round of Jager, and then walked further out of the city to an area called Fitzroy where there are lots of pubs. We found one that was having 90s night, and we danced the night away to the sounds of yester-year.
On my Birthday we slept in a bit. The first thing we did was go to Melbourne 360, which is basically one of the tallest buildings in Melbourne, and you can go to the observation deck on the top. It was neat to see the city from so high, and the weather was beautiful that day. After that we went to the outlet mall... which was pretty pathetic actually, then we walked around town more and walked down along the river. All of these events were interspersed with various eateries: Krispy Kreme for breakfast, Greek for lunch, and BBNT which was an amazing fast-foodish Mexican place. Later that night, before we went out, we went to the casino to try our luck. I went in with $10, and I think I lost it all... but I was up $6 at some point. After the casino we went to a club for a few hours and danced. I had blisters the next morning.
Sunday was a day of rest. I think I slept until noon. After that we did a bit more shopping at the mall and then I came home to take a nap. That afternoon everyone but Alex went to see Wicked the musical! It was amazing! I hadn't seen it in a few years (I saw it in London freshman year) and it was nice to see it again, especially after I knew the music better. Once we got out, we went to BBNT for some more Mexican food and then went to the casino again. I did much better this time. I started with $15... I lost 10 at roulette and then won that back, as well as my 10 from the night before playing some weird $1 matching table game. I saved some chips as a memento. We called it a night soon after, as we had a long travel day on Monday.
All in all it was a great weekend! Melbourne is much like Sydney and Brisbane. An incredibly clean, and young city. It was crammed full of art all over the place, and may be one of the most cultured cities I've been to. I would go back in a heartbeat. It's one of my favorite places we went to. Check out the pictures!
Hope all is well!
Miss you all!!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
A Million Thanks!
I would like to devote this post to you. To everyone who was kind enough to think of me on my Birthday. The letters, cards, and emails that poured in around my Birthday made my time so much better! It was so wonderful to get a brief update on everyone's lives back home, as well as to know that people were thinking of me. I had one of the best 21st Birthdays ever, and it was because of the love and caring that was sent to me. I appreciate it, and you all, so incredibly much!
Thank you SOOO much to:
- Denise and Rich
- Mickey Morehouse
- The Kims
- The Cahills
- Mary Jeanne
- Cousin Janice
- Bobbi Lensing
- Bill and Joanne
- The Hughes
- Tricia Cook
- Melissa, Clif, and Anna
- The Heitchues
- Grandma
- Memere and Pepere
- The Valatie Reeves
- Larry and Ellen
- Barb Smith
- Kim Smith
- Kay
- The Seymours
- The Judges
- George and Kelly
- M'Oncle Claude and M'Tante Annette
- Cousin Steve
- M'Oncle Alphie and M'Tante Stella
- Cousin Dick
- M'Tante Helen
Also a massive thanks to Mom and Dad for their great Birthday thoughts, gifts, and love while I'm away!!
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Thank you SOOO much to:
- Denise and Rich
- Mickey Morehouse
- The Kims
- The Cahills
- Mary Jeanne
- Cousin Janice
- Bobbi Lensing
- Bill and Joanne
- The Hughes
- Tricia Cook
- Melissa, Clif, and Anna
- The Heitchues
- Grandma
- Memere and Pepere
- The Valatie Reeves
- Larry and Ellen
- Barb Smith
- Kim Smith
- Kay
- The Seymours
- The Judges
- George and Kelly
- M'Oncle Claude and M'Tante Annette
- Cousin Steve
- M'Oncle Alphie and M'Tante Stella
- Cousin Dick
- M'Tante Helen
Also a massive thanks to Mom and Dad for their great Birthday thoughts, gifts, and love while I'm away!!
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Christchurch
On the way to Christchurch from Nelson, we made a slight detour to visit the town of Picton. Picton is basically the town you go to when you need to take the ferry to the north island. It did have some coffee shops and a small little village, but it was very industrialized besides that. We stopped to stretch our legs, get a bite to eat, and enjoy the warm sea air. Now, I believe that everything is meant to happen for a reason... and this is a prime example. After our coffee break we decided to run into a clothing store that was having a big sale. If we hadn't gone into that store, we would have left 5 minutes earlier and I wouldn't have seen my friend from HOBY, Chris Fahner, when we were driving out of town. It was SOOO crazy... I'm driving out of town and I see these three people walking down the sidewalk, and one of them is Chris. Now, I knew he was studying in NZ for the semester, but we hadn't contacted each other about getting together. How CRAZY is that?! Even if I was 30 seconds later, I would have missed him. I stopped the car and jumped out, and it was nice to catch up with him for a bit! Especially because HOBY is coming right around the corner and I'm missing everyone from it!!
After Picton we kept driving down through more wine country towards Christchurch. Christchurch was definitely the biggest city we had been to, and it was clearly apparent from the roads we were driving on. They were no match for Emma's directions though, as she got us right into the city and right to our hostel.
It turns out the Christchurch ended up being my favorite place in NZ. Before we got there I would have said Queenstown or Wanaka, but once we made it to CHC... I knew. Our hostel was located RIGHT SMACK DAB in the middle of the art district which provided for very interesting statues everywhere, museums, and live music everywhere. Across the street from our hostel was an outdoor market which sold food on Friday, and crafts on the weekend. I think we walked through the market every day, whether to look at the crafts, or to hear the musician that was performing that day. On Saturday we went and walked through the botanical gardens that were less than a block from our hostel. Even though it was fall, they were still very pretty! In the gardens we stumbled upon a rose garden with over 100 different species of roses. They were all in full bloom and it was such an incredible sight. It reminded me of my Great Uncle Claude... seems like something he would LOVE to see.
That evening we went back to our hostel and had some dinner and then, like every night that weekend, met up with our friends from Queenstown. Two of the guys who we met lived in a flat right in the center of CHC near Cathedral Square. They lived above two bars, which was always interesting because you had to walk through the back "outside area" of the ground floor bar, to get to their stairs. We always seemed to feel like VIPs. Once I was walking in and the bouncer grabbed me by my shoulder and all I said was "I live here..." I was let go. haha. It was really fun to get back in touch with these guys because they actually knew CHC and could tell us where to go and whatnot. Their flat was full of international people. Some studying, some working, and some just living. It was incredibly interesting to chat with people from England, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and other countries. I think there was only one Kiwi(nz) person there. We went out with them Friday and Saturday nights to this cool club called Boogie Nights. They played disco and 80s music, and it was so fun to dance to. We also went to a great Irish Pub... the band there played the BEST music. I think I knew every song they played. There was one from "P.S. I Love You" one from "Waking Ned Devine" and one from the Irish party scene in "Titanic." All in all, they showed us a great weekend, and we loved hanging out with them. It was great to say we actually had friends in New Zealand. Which we truly did, we even ran into them during the day at the grocery store and at the craft market.
On Sunday we started off at the market and then we all went to the museum down the road to look at the art. Some of those paintings were centuries old and they looked like photographs, the details were so remarkable... I was stunned. There was also heaps of modern art, which I really enjoyed as well. As we were leaving a Salvation Army band was playing outside of the museum, and I sat and listened to them for probably close to an hour. It was a perfectly warm and sunny day to sit and listen to a band. That afternoon Emma, Lauren, and I went "punting" down the Avon River. Basically this is like the gondolas in Venice... but with a German guy, and on a much smaller river. The couple sitting behind us was from the north island and they kept chatting up the punter. One question they asked him, was if he ever got stuck in the river (it was only like 1-2 feet deep). To which he replied: "The only time I ever got stuck was when I had a boatload of McDonald's Loving, Fat Americans." Lauren and I laughed, and kept out mouths shut... until they were all discussing the cost of universities in their countries. I turned around and said: "In AMERICA we pay nearly $40K a year." The reply from the punter was: "Sorry for my McDonald's comment." I thought it was funny, but it's an example of how much of the world looks at American with complete disdain. Such is life.
That night we went to our friends' flat to watch a movie, and then we called it an early night before we flew home on Monday. It was so bittersweet to leave. I absolutely LOVED New Zealand, and getting on a plane to go back to TOOWOOMBA, wasn't really what I wanted to be doing. However, at the same time, I wanted to get back and see everyone else that had gone up to Cairns for break. It was nice to chat with them and exchange stories about our trips. I already can't wait to go back to NZ. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life and the people, as a whole, are so incredibly nice, easy going, and laid back. It's just such a positive and happy atmosphere everywhere you go!
After Picton we kept driving down through more wine country towards Christchurch. Christchurch was definitely the biggest city we had been to, and it was clearly apparent from the roads we were driving on. They were no match for Emma's directions though, as she got us right into the city and right to our hostel.
It turns out the Christchurch ended up being my favorite place in NZ. Before we got there I would have said Queenstown or Wanaka, but once we made it to CHC... I knew. Our hostel was located RIGHT SMACK DAB in the middle of the art district which provided for very interesting statues everywhere, museums, and live music everywhere. Across the street from our hostel was an outdoor market which sold food on Friday, and crafts on the weekend. I think we walked through the market every day, whether to look at the crafts, or to hear the musician that was performing that day. On Saturday we went and walked through the botanical gardens that were less than a block from our hostel. Even though it was fall, they were still very pretty! In the gardens we stumbled upon a rose garden with over 100 different species of roses. They were all in full bloom and it was such an incredible sight. It reminded me of my Great Uncle Claude... seems like something he would LOVE to see.
That evening we went back to our hostel and had some dinner and then, like every night that weekend, met up with our friends from Queenstown. Two of the guys who we met lived in a flat right in the center of CHC near Cathedral Square. They lived above two bars, which was always interesting because you had to walk through the back "outside area" of the ground floor bar, to get to their stairs. We always seemed to feel like VIPs. Once I was walking in and the bouncer grabbed me by my shoulder and all I said was "I live here..." I was let go. haha. It was really fun to get back in touch with these guys because they actually knew CHC and could tell us where to go and whatnot. Their flat was full of international people. Some studying, some working, and some just living. It was incredibly interesting to chat with people from England, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and other countries. I think there was only one Kiwi(nz) person there. We went out with them Friday and Saturday nights to this cool club called Boogie Nights. They played disco and 80s music, and it was so fun to dance to. We also went to a great Irish Pub... the band there played the BEST music. I think I knew every song they played. There was one from "P.S. I Love You" one from "Waking Ned Devine" and one from the Irish party scene in "Titanic." All in all, they showed us a great weekend, and we loved hanging out with them. It was great to say we actually had friends in New Zealand. Which we truly did, we even ran into them during the day at the grocery store and at the craft market.
On Sunday we started off at the market and then we all went to the museum down the road to look at the art. Some of those paintings were centuries old and they looked like photographs, the details were so remarkable... I was stunned. There was also heaps of modern art, which I really enjoyed as well. As we were leaving a Salvation Army band was playing outside of the museum, and I sat and listened to them for probably close to an hour. It was a perfectly warm and sunny day to sit and listen to a band. That afternoon Emma, Lauren, and I went "punting" down the Avon River. Basically this is like the gondolas in Venice... but with a German guy, and on a much smaller river. The couple sitting behind us was from the north island and they kept chatting up the punter. One question they asked him, was if he ever got stuck in the river (it was only like 1-2 feet deep). To which he replied: "The only time I ever got stuck was when I had a boatload of McDonald's Loving, Fat Americans." Lauren and I laughed, and kept out mouths shut... until they were all discussing the cost of universities in their countries. I turned around and said: "In AMERICA we pay nearly $40K a year." The reply from the punter was: "Sorry for my McDonald's comment." I thought it was funny, but it's an example of how much of the world looks at American with complete disdain. Such is life.
That night we went to our friends' flat to watch a movie, and then we called it an early night before we flew home on Monday. It was so bittersweet to leave. I absolutely LOVED New Zealand, and getting on a plane to go back to TOOWOOMBA, wasn't really what I wanted to be doing. However, at the same time, I wanted to get back and see everyone else that had gone up to Cairns for break. It was nice to chat with them and exchange stories about our trips. I already can't wait to go back to NZ. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life and the people, as a whole, are so incredibly nice, easy going, and laid back. It's just such a positive and happy atmosphere everywhere you go!
Nelson
From Takaka we made the short drive to Nelson. Nelson is right on the north coast of the south island, and is maybe the size of Toowoomba. There wasn't a ton to do here, but we had fun regardless. The first night there was a showing of Ocean's Thirteen at the hostel, so we watched that... mainly for the free popcorn. The next morning we had to switch hostels again, so we drove across town to a smaller hostel with... get ready... it's almost unbelievable... FREE UNLIMITED INTERNET! It was so nice to get a proper Facebook fix... as sad as that sounds. I spent the better portion of the day doing that until we all decided to go for a short hike up one of the hills near town to go to the geographical center of NZ. It was pretty cool. There was a little monument marking the exact spot, and there were some beautiful views of Nelson, the bay, and the surrounding mountains. After this we went to a tiny pub across the street from our hostel where they had all locally brewed beers. We tried some really nice beers there. The rest of the night involved playing cards in the hostel. We went to bed early, as we had a long drive to Christchurch the next day.
Takaka
The drive from Fox Glacier to Takaka was incredibly long, but was made up for the by the SPECTACULAR views of the coastline and the very green mountains that ran into it. We stopped mid way at a place called pancake rocks to see the rocks, and to have some lunch. These rocks are a bunch of free standing, probably 50 feet high and carved by water, towers that look like a bunch of pancakes stacked up. It's hard to describe, but there are pictures of it in the Takaka album. One of the other more interesting things we saw on the drive was for about a 1km stretch of road on the coastline. Here, tons of people made Cairns (the self balancing rock towers) that line the roadside. There were easily thousands of them. It was raining hard at this point, but that didn't deter Lauren from making one of her own. Some of these towers used such small and skinny rocks, and it was amazing that they were still balancing through all the forces of mother nature.
10 hours later, and we arrived in Takaka. Takaka is the closest town to the Abel Tasman National park. Abel Tasman was the first European to discover NZ. He also discovered the small island of Tasmania, one of the states of Australia, but somehow managed to miss the main island of Australia. Nonetheless, he found NZ, and the National Park named after him is where he did a lot of his exploring... that is until the natives basically scared the crap out of him and ran him away from their island.
The next day was open to explore the park, as we only had a 2 hour drive to our next destination: Nelson. We saw the exact cove where Tasman first anchored his ships, we went on a beautiful hike to a fantastic waterfall. This hike involved a bridge that swung and swayed a lot, and had a limit of only one person at a time. I'm not huge on heights, and this bridge was testing that fear of mine. However, I made it, and was glad to see the falls at the end. We also read in the travel book that there was a great place to buy home made salami, called Golden Salami, and if we even remotely liked salami, we needed to go there and buy some. And we did. Oh boy did we buy some salami. After taking a bite of some of the samples, Lauren, Emma, and I (slightly to our dismay later on) bought a giant hunk of salami each. The old man who made it came out and chatted us up for a bit. It was clear he wanted some people to talk to, so we had a nice talk with him about our trip and NZ. He told us to check out this cool little nature park, right down the road, that would be the absolute BEST place for a child to play in. It was a small area full of giant boulders that had broken into tons of pieces with heaps of tall, green trees covered in vines. There were so many hiding places and alcoves... it was so cool. The trail throughout led us to the other side where there was a platform on the side of a cliff, maybe 60 feet in the air, looking out over the fields and the ocean. It was too cool. I wish I could have played there as a kid.
On the way out of Takaka we stopped at a converted-bus-restaurant for some delicious fish and chips, which we were all craving after hearing the radio DJ talk about it the day before. Once we were as full as could be, we piled in Ellen and made the drive to Nelson. This drive was maybe the most physically tiring drive I had done yet. Mainly because we had to drive over a huge mountain range. On both sides of the mountains, for 30km, it was switchbacks back and forth for what seemed like an eternity. The car was constantly in 2nd gear and the steering wheel was never in a straight position. I was always turning it from one direction to the next in complete 360 degree motions. Not only was this road incredibly windy, but it was also very steep. Poor Ellen was thoroughly tired when we got to Nelson... and so were my arms.
10 hours later, and we arrived in Takaka. Takaka is the closest town to the Abel Tasman National park. Abel Tasman was the first European to discover NZ. He also discovered the small island of Tasmania, one of the states of Australia, but somehow managed to miss the main island of Australia. Nonetheless, he found NZ, and the National Park named after him is where he did a lot of his exploring... that is until the natives basically scared the crap out of him and ran him away from their island.
The next day was open to explore the park, as we only had a 2 hour drive to our next destination: Nelson. We saw the exact cove where Tasman first anchored his ships, we went on a beautiful hike to a fantastic waterfall. This hike involved a bridge that swung and swayed a lot, and had a limit of only one person at a time. I'm not huge on heights, and this bridge was testing that fear of mine. However, I made it, and was glad to see the falls at the end. We also read in the travel book that there was a great place to buy home made salami, called Golden Salami, and if we even remotely liked salami, we needed to go there and buy some. And we did. Oh boy did we buy some salami. After taking a bite of some of the samples, Lauren, Emma, and I (slightly to our dismay later on) bought a giant hunk of salami each. The old man who made it came out and chatted us up for a bit. It was clear he wanted some people to talk to, so we had a nice talk with him about our trip and NZ. He told us to check out this cool little nature park, right down the road, that would be the absolute BEST place for a child to play in. It was a small area full of giant boulders that had broken into tons of pieces with heaps of tall, green trees covered in vines. There were so many hiding places and alcoves... it was so cool. The trail throughout led us to the other side where there was a platform on the side of a cliff, maybe 60 feet in the air, looking out over the fields and the ocean. It was too cool. I wish I could have played there as a kid.
On the way out of Takaka we stopped at a converted-bus-restaurant for some delicious fish and chips, which we were all craving after hearing the radio DJ talk about it the day before. Once we were as full as could be, we piled in Ellen and made the drive to Nelson. This drive was maybe the most physically tiring drive I had done yet. Mainly because we had to drive over a huge mountain range. On both sides of the mountains, for 30km, it was switchbacks back and forth for what seemed like an eternity. The car was constantly in 2nd gear and the steering wheel was never in a straight position. I was always turning it from one direction to the next in complete 360 degree motions. Not only was this road incredibly windy, but it was also very steep. Poor Ellen was thoroughly tired when we got to Nelson... and so were my arms.
Fox Glacier
This post will be short... I promise.
From Queenstown we drove 7 hours in the rain up the west coast to Fox Glacier. We drove through Wanaka on the way, and it was almost nostalgic to be back there again. It felt like forever since our time there. I didn't realize it at first, but Fox Glacier is DIRECTLY across the mountain range from Mt. Cook. It's funny how small the island was, and how "criss-crossy" our path was.
Our original plan was to do an afternoon hike on the glacier, but the rain was so heavy and the fog so thick, that we decided to have another lazy afternoon in the movie room at our hostel. I think I watched 3 movies that afternoon.
The next morning we got up at 5:30 in order to make the sunrise on Lake Matheson, which is right in town, had an hour long walk around it, and normally has incredible reflections of Mt. Cook in the morning on it's glass-still water. Sadly, the fog was still pretty thick, and while there was some reflection of the mountain, there wasn't anything that spectacular. Until we were back in the car on our way to Takaka... of course.
From Queenstown we drove 7 hours in the rain up the west coast to Fox Glacier. We drove through Wanaka on the way, and it was almost nostalgic to be back there again. It felt like forever since our time there. I didn't realize it at first, but Fox Glacier is DIRECTLY across the mountain range from Mt. Cook. It's funny how small the island was, and how "criss-crossy" our path was.
Our original plan was to do an afternoon hike on the glacier, but the rain was so heavy and the fog so thick, that we decided to have another lazy afternoon in the movie room at our hostel. I think I watched 3 movies that afternoon.
The next morning we got up at 5:30 in order to make the sunrise on Lake Matheson, which is right in town, had an hour long walk around it, and normally has incredible reflections of Mt. Cook in the morning on it's glass-still water. Sadly, the fog was still pretty thick, and while there was some reflection of the mountain, there wasn't anything that spectacular. Until we were back in the car on our way to Takaka... of course.
Queenstown
Sorry these have been so long... just grab a drink and a snack, prop your feet up, and enjoy.
From Te Anau we traveled to Queenstown... which is self proclaimed as the adventure capital of the world. Here you can go everything: skydive, bungee jump (started in NZ), para-glide, hang-glide, go on a jet boat, do helicopter tours. You name something adventurous and aimed at tourists, and they have it.
We pulled into our hostel (on a HUGE hill, again) called the Hippo Lodge and threw our stuff in. Literally. The window to our room was huge, opened out all the way, was right near the car, and conveniently was large enough for all of our bags. After we got settled we went and walked through the town. It is absolutely a ski town and is incredibly touristy. I would peg it as a cross between Woodstock, Killington, and Vail. Much like Burlington, there are steep mountains all around the lake there. We grabbed some thai food, ate on the patio, and then continued walking around and through loads of gift shops.
That night we met some really cool people in our hostel that live in Christchurch and were from all over: France, Romania, Spain, Australia, and some other places. They were all our age and seemed wicked nice, so we decided to go out with them that night. Now, this was Easter weekend... and what we didn't know was that no alcohol could be sold in NZ on Good Friday or Easter Sunday. So we couldn't go out Friday night until the clubs opened at midnight. We had a great time dancing, singing, and spending our night with our new friends.
The next day was a day that revolved all around FOOD! This started in the morning when we made a million pancakes from the free pancake mix provided by our hostel. After this delicious breakfast we went to a small craft market... which was right next to the target destination: Chocolate Patagonia. We originally just went there cones of their homemade ice cream (which were HUGE), but we were also suckered into a massssive piece of chocolate cake. We walked some of these calories off for a bit in the afternoon, only to go to the most well known burger joint in New Zealand: Fergburger. I told myself that I couldn't go to Fergburger and not order the biggest thing on the menu, so I did just that. It was a double cheese burger, with loads of bacon, and two fried eggs. I am pretty sure I had a heart attack with every bite. But boy was it delicious. I clearly washed it down with a tall glass of Speight's! Pride of the South! We went out again that night, and met our friends downtown. However, this night was Saturday and the bars were only open until Midnight (the start of Easter.) After which we all went back to the hostel, and chatted in the living room until the wee hours of the morning.
The next day our friends were headed off to Milford Sound, and we were moving to another hostel in Queenstown because ours was full that night. Stephanie, Lauren, and I enjoyed a nice walk along the waterfront while Emma went Paragliding. She really had a great time doing that. Later on that day, Emma, Lauren and I took the gondola up the mountain to do "the luge." This provided for some AMAZING views of the surrounding mountains, the lake, and all of Queenstown. The Luge is basically like an Alpine Slide, only the track is wider, you have to steer, and you have the ability to overtake people. We did 5 incredibly fun runs down the track and then enjoyed a small lunch on the patio of the restaurant at the top of the mountain. Once we were back to the hostel, I had to get some things in order for my clinical here in NZ, and while I was doing that the girls all went to a winery a little ways outside of Queenstown. Emma's mom owns an imported wine shop in Hong Kong, and this particular winery was one of her suppliers. The girls used this connection to get a free tasting and some nice discounts on wine. I was bummed to miss it, but I had to get my clinical stuff done.
Wow, okay... I think that sums up Queenstown. It was a very fun town for people our age, but very touristy. The next day we had a LONG driving day ahead of us.
From Te Anau we traveled to Queenstown... which is self proclaimed as the adventure capital of the world. Here you can go everything: skydive, bungee jump (started in NZ), para-glide, hang-glide, go on a jet boat, do helicopter tours. You name something adventurous and aimed at tourists, and they have it.
We pulled into our hostel (on a HUGE hill, again) called the Hippo Lodge and threw our stuff in. Literally. The window to our room was huge, opened out all the way, was right near the car, and conveniently was large enough for all of our bags. After we got settled we went and walked through the town. It is absolutely a ski town and is incredibly touristy. I would peg it as a cross between Woodstock, Killington, and Vail. Much like Burlington, there are steep mountains all around the lake there. We grabbed some thai food, ate on the patio, and then continued walking around and through loads of gift shops.
That night we met some really cool people in our hostel that live in Christchurch and were from all over: France, Romania, Spain, Australia, and some other places. They were all our age and seemed wicked nice, so we decided to go out with them that night. Now, this was Easter weekend... and what we didn't know was that no alcohol could be sold in NZ on Good Friday or Easter Sunday. So we couldn't go out Friday night until the clubs opened at midnight. We had a great time dancing, singing, and spending our night with our new friends.
The next day was a day that revolved all around FOOD! This started in the morning when we made a million pancakes from the free pancake mix provided by our hostel. After this delicious breakfast we went to a small craft market... which was right next to the target destination: Chocolate Patagonia. We originally just went there cones of their homemade ice cream (which were HUGE), but we were also suckered into a massssive piece of chocolate cake. We walked some of these calories off for a bit in the afternoon, only to go to the most well known burger joint in New Zealand: Fergburger. I told myself that I couldn't go to Fergburger and not order the biggest thing on the menu, so I did just that. It was a double cheese burger, with loads of bacon, and two fried eggs. I am pretty sure I had a heart attack with every bite. But boy was it delicious. I clearly washed it down with a tall glass of Speight's! Pride of the South! We went out again that night, and met our friends downtown. However, this night was Saturday and the bars were only open until Midnight (the start of Easter.) After which we all went back to the hostel, and chatted in the living room until the wee hours of the morning.
The next day our friends were headed off to Milford Sound, and we were moving to another hostel in Queenstown because ours was full that night. Stephanie, Lauren, and I enjoyed a nice walk along the waterfront while Emma went Paragliding. She really had a great time doing that. Later on that day, Emma, Lauren and I took the gondola up the mountain to do "the luge." This provided for some AMAZING views of the surrounding mountains, the lake, and all of Queenstown. The Luge is basically like an Alpine Slide, only the track is wider, you have to steer, and you have the ability to overtake people. We did 5 incredibly fun runs down the track and then enjoyed a small lunch on the patio of the restaurant at the top of the mountain. Once we were back to the hostel, I had to get some things in order for my clinical here in NZ, and while I was doing that the girls all went to a winery a little ways outside of Queenstown. Emma's mom owns an imported wine shop in Hong Kong, and this particular winery was one of her suppliers. The girls used this connection to get a free tasting and some nice discounts on wine. I was bummed to miss it, but I had to get my clinical stuff done.
Wow, okay... I think that sums up Queenstown. It was a very fun town for people our age, but very touristy. The next day we had a LONG driving day ahead of us.
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