Powered by Tofu » Queenstown

And Then There Was One

poweredbytofu — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:40:52 +0000

Still in Queenstown? I decided to stay an extra day, and then travel on with Amanda and Sas. The following day we finally left. The drive back to Christchurch was rather uneventful. We stopped for a few cool views of Mt Cook and lunch near the lake.

After arriving in Christchurch, we went out for Thai food and checked out rugby tickets. We wanted to go to the Chirstchurch Crusaders vs Auckland Blues rugby game, but the only tickets left were “obstructed view” tickets. So we ended up watching the game at a pub. After the game, we all said goodbye and went our separate ways. And then there was one… I’m traveling solo again. On to the north island.

I’m A Luger, Baby

poweredbytofu — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:11:17 +0000

This morning we took the gondola up to the mountain, took the luge chair to the top of the track, and then hiked into the woods. We were originally going to hike the Ben Loman Saddle and return trail, but it wasn’t well marked, so we hiked as far up as possible and named a new “summit.” After hiking back down we bought gigantic bowls of potato wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce (for only $4.50!), clearly a highlight of my day. Then, we went luging. It was insanely fun. I loved it! It was so funny to pass people, especially edging them out on corners. After we used all six of our luge tickets we watched people bungy jump, (while trying to coerce Amanda to join them), before heading back to town. After a day of hiking and luging, we hit Fergburger for the *cough* third time in 4 days.

I Love Oregonians

poweredbytofu — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:46:07 +0000

I’m back in Queenstown. This time I’m staying out at Bumbles Hostel, west of town, across the street from the lake. It’s a smaller hostel, so a lot cozier than the massive hostels in the downtown area. Anyway, two of my new roomies are Oregonians. We’re everywhere, and watch out because we love to brag, I mean talk, about our state!

After my whirlwind tour of the south coast, it’s really nice to not be packing up and moving on for a few days. This afternoon, I walked out to the larger supermarket in the suburbs to buy a few groceries. I got a little carried away, and ended with a lot of breads, cheeses, and fruits. Why does this always happen to me? I also did some shopping on Beech Street, and finally broke down and bought a hoodie. So comfy! It’s starting to get pretty cold here, especially in the evenings. After dinner, I hung out with my fellow Americans. I haven’t been in a room with seven Americans since I left home. Sometimes Americans are just more fun! ;)

Another chilled out day in Queenstown… Although this is the adventure capital of New Zealand, I’ve just been relaxing. After breakfast, I borrowed the disc golf frisbees from the office and headed out to the course at the Queenstown Gardens. It wasn’t marked well and was super windy, but I still had fun. This evening, Amanda and Sas rolled back into Queentown. They had spent a few extra days in Dunedin, so it was fun to catch back up with them.

Stewart Island to Dunedin

poweredbytofu — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 19:46:03 +0000

I overslept this morning. After washing my face (it’s too cold to shower anyway), I grabbed by gear and hurried to the ferry terminal. The ferry didn’t leave for 30 more minutes, and the ride back to Bluff was pretty mellow. I drank coffee, listened to my iPod and stared out at the waves. After picking up some people in Invercargill we took the scenic route through the Catlins to Dunedin. It was pissing down rain most of the day, but we still got out at all of the stops. We arrived in Dunedin around 6pm, and after eating in the hotel kitchen, we checked out the town. Dunedin is a college town (4th largest city in NZ, I believe) on the south coast. So they had a really cool downtown area, very college townish, with several pubs and cafes playing live music. This doesn’t sound that different than an average town on a Saturday night, but after traveling through towns with a population of 200, it’s fun to see a little city now and then.

The next morning, I headed back to the octagon district to look for breakfast. I ended up going to a snobby little cafe called Mash, where I had the best cappuccino I’d had in ages, and french toast with bananas on top and two eggs. The servers all had major attitudes, but it just made me laugh, very Parisian of them. One of the best breakfasts that I’ve had in NZ.

Back to Queenstown…

The Fjords of Milford Sound

poweredbytofu — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:40:51 +0000

Early start! We left for Milford Sound at 6:30am. We stopped halfway there to book our Stewart Island ferry tickets and have breakfast. I had a yummy cappuccino and eggs on toast, before we continued on to Milford Sound. We stopped twice more for some quick hikes and to take pictures. Milford is gorgeous, the landscape is incredible. I’m sad to admit that New Zealand is more gorgeous than Oregon. ;) The fjords and mountains and snow was amazing! I staked out a spot on the top deck of the boat and didn’t move. About halfway through, the Japanese tourists came up to the top deck (they all had tickets that included lunch), but alas, I had the spot they all wanted. It was such a gorgeous day.

More pictures of Milford Sound:

Sheep herding in Makarora

poweredbytofu — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:11:07 +0000

The bad weather almost caught up to us again. It was raining as we left Franz Josef yesterday morning. We did several hiking stops during the day. One was to the blue pools, which was gorgeous, and there was even a suspension bridge. After traveling through Haast pass, we spent the night in Makarora, which seems to be more of a campground with a cafe, than a town. We stayed in A-frame cabins and cooked in the camping kitchen.

I ran into a sheep this morning, literally. I woke up early, and on my way to the showers a sheep came bounding around the other corner of the building and crashed into me with a “baaaa!” I almost peed my pants! I squealed because I though it was a dog at first. Then the sheep was just standing there staring at me, so I baaaaa-ed back at the sheep and it went wandering away. Too weird.

The bus stopped in Wanaka for lunch. I should have taken an extra day and stayed in Wanaka, but I continued on to Queenstown. Next time! On the way we stopped at the original AJ Hackett bungy jumping site. It was cool to see the first commercial site. A few people from the bus jumped, and then we continued on to Queeny. Queenstown reminds me of Bend, OR. It’s a touristy mountain town, that many people have written off as too touristy, but I still find it charming. Some of us met for dinner at Fergburger. It was the best burger that I’ve probably ever had. I got the Bun Ladin, which is a falafel burger. We met for goodbye drinks later, since tomorrow, most of us from the bus will be going our separate ways. The only ones continuing on from my bus will be the two girls we picked up in Greymouth.

A piece of Kiwi trivia for you: New Zealand has the highest per capita sheep population in the world. Which means sheep outnumber them by 12 to 1.