BACK TO QUEENSTOWN

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Back to Queenstown for our final day in New Zealand. I can’t believe how fast this time has passed by and how much we have seen and done. But the vacay isn’t over yet! There’s still Fiji to come.

On arrival back in Queenstown, the bus dropped us at the Harbour front to go find our own lunch. Jane, Anne & I sat on a bench and ate cheese, crackers and salami and then wandered around the pedestrian shopping mall until it was time for us to check into the hotel (same one we stayed at a couple of days ago but different rooms this time).

Going out for a short walk - 6 kms later we struggled back up the “Torture Hill” from the downtown. But what a beautiful walk we had around the headland that protects the harbour, through wooded areas with huge trees and past Queenstown Gardens back to the harbour, up the streets that lead back to our hotel.

Time for a rest before we meet the bus to take us to the Gondola & up the mountain for our farewell dinner. As we disembarked the bus a small herd of feral goats came bounding down off the mountain and invaded a cemetery at the bottom. They are quite big and shaggy and apparently are a problem around the town of Queenstown. One goat named Kevin does house invasions and causes damage inside.

This gondola runs much faster than the previous one we were on. At the top is the StratosFare Restaurant and bar and this is where we had our dinner. It was a buffet, but not your normal buffet. I can’t even begin to tell you all the things that were on this buffet - it was huge and unusual. I started with seafood salad, green lipped mussels, squid salad and tiger prawns with their heads still on and little black beady eyes. For the main course, I had Otego venison, fresh asparagus, a roasted root of some kind with coconut on it and spinach, mushroom & pumpkin gratin with freshly baked garlic and cheese bun. Then there were so many desserts that I had trouble deciding so I took a whole bunch! I had fresh made strawberry ice cream and a vanilla, cookie crumb and banana ice cream, a small pot of creme brûlée, fruit pavlova and bread pudding with crème Anglais & fresh berry compote. OK now I am about to burst so I had to stop.

Out on the observation deck we are 480 metres about Queenstown and can see for miles. A huge dazzling lake surrounded by breath taking mountains.

I am tired - have walked 11 kms today and I’m ready for a good sleep and an early start tomorrow. We are off to the hot beaches, warm pools and cold drinks of Fiji. We have to fly from Queenstown to Auckland and then change airlines to Fiji.

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