Anyone for frisbee golf?

Queenstown, October 21 - 28

Queenstown may be known as the adrenaline capital of the world but it's also a great place to just chill out.

After spending a fair few weeks in tiny towns it was a novelty to be in city even though the city is very small compared to those back home.

We took the opportunity to sleep in and wander round the cafes and bars sampling hot chocolate and beer. Patagonia does the best ice cream and milk shakes and a little French restaurant next to Dux de Lux does the best hot chocolate. There are happy hours all over the place in the evening which makes going out fairly reasonable. We tried our luck in the casino and ate a huge curry at a cheap (but tasty) curry house. Basically it was like a mini break from constant travel and doing things.

As far as cities go Queenstown has to be one of the most picturesque. It has a huge lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains and many public parks with beautiful flower beds and trees in blossom. We enjoyed some very fresh fish and chips by the lake and went on a few walks around parts of it.

Simon says he could definitely live in Queenstown - he'd love to go skiing in winter and in the summer get the water taxi over to the golf course on the banks of the lake.

For a bit of exercise we hiked up the mountain where the gondolas go - it was really steep but the walk up was amazing. It was through forests and we were walking on a blanket of dropped fir needles and pine cones, scrambling over rocks and tree trunks. A real adventure - especially when wearing non-grip ballet flats. We eventually made it to the top and took in the stunning views for miles around.

We also tried our hand at a new (to us) sport called frisbee golf. It's basically what it says on the tin - you go around an 18-hole course complete with baskets or posts for 'holes' but instead of a golf ball you use a frisbee. The course is set out properly in Queenstown Gardens and there is even instructions on what par each hole is. Armed with our very cheap and bendy $3 frisbees we set off. Now I'm not the best with a frisbee but Simon isn't too bad but there was no way we were ever going to make any of the holes under par. The frisbees were so rubbish we were lucky if we threw them 2m in front of us (some of the holes were 150m) and they never went in a straight line so we ended up rooting through the undergrowth and clambouring up banks to retrieve the damn things. But it was a good laugh and very popular because the course was always busy. It was quite clear we were amateurs though, especially when we couldn't find the 16th hole so just gave up and went for a drink.

Queenstown is also home to the infamous (in NZ at least) Fergburger. This is a burger joint that is rammed all hours of the day and night by people tempted by the huge, tasty, original burgers. There's everything from chicken, lamb and tofu burgers to classic beef and every burger is crammed with tasty extras. We really enjoyed ours - a Tropical Swine and Southern Swine - and thought they were on a par with burgers we had tried in the States. So with full tums and a new sport under our belt we caught another bus - next stop Wanaka.

---

Part of trip: New Zealand

---