Day 8 Mount Cook/Queenstown

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I wanted to stay in Mount Cook but the next mooring it was raining terribly. The forecast for the next few days was also rain, so in order to do what I wanted to do I had to wait out a few bad days of rain. There is nothing to do in Mount Cook if you can't go outside. The local cafe is the only thing open and the population is probably in the low hundreds. I didn't really make any friends aside from the 60 year old english man and middle aged Korean guy that were traveling together. We talked about American and British politics a bit. I decided it was best if I moved on to a bigger city with more things to do. I headed to queenstown.

The view out was pretty cool, the mountains had low lying clouds and looked misty. The drive, like any drive in New Zealand, was spectacular. It's hard to describe, every 15 minutes the scenery changes, you wouldn't think you were in the same country. Rolling green hills, yellowish mountains, rocky mountains, huge lakes, forests. Oh and of course sheep.

On the way to Queenstown I stopped at the first bungy jumping place in the world. I waited to watch someone jump and took a bunch of pictures as he descended. He was dipped into the river below, and from the pictures it looks like it went almost up to his waist. Was a pretty fun thing to watch. I also went through Gibbston, a small wine town. It was nestled in between two mountains and was nice and hilly ideal grape growing. I stopped at a small winery for lunch. It was an old church that had been converted into a winery. There was a woman outside washing the windows and she told me to go inside. The inside was nice, all wooden walls and tables. The front counter had wines lined up on it for tasting. I decided to try a few. I tried the Rose, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Pinot Noir. The Pinot Gris was the sweetest and best tasting to me. The Riesling surprisingly was dry and had a rubbery taste to it. I got a glass of the Pinot Gris and had the soup of the day, minestrone. The meal was great. The thing I love about dining in New Zealand is that every restaurant brings a large glass container of water and all liquids are served in somewhat small glasses. It just adds a nice touch. I left the winery and headed towards Queenstown.

I arrived in Queenstown around 3:00. On the drive in I saw these amazing condominiums overlooking the bay, the wall facing the bay was all glass so the view was spectacular. Perhaps a future investment opportunity if I ever make any money. I got set up at the Deco Hostel. Its a smaller hostel then the previous ones, and independently owned. The YHA's are a chain and not nearly as pleasant as the family owned hostels. I met the manager Tony, and his dog Barney. He showed me around and led me to my room. I am rooming with a Canadian from Vancouver Island, Steve, and an American from California, TK. TK has been backpacking around the country for the past 5 months or so. He hitchhiked from Auckland to here, so pretty much the whole of New Zealand. He's here looking for work and wants to take advantage of the snowboarding season. Steve has been here for a while as well, and is looking for work in the area. I also met Steve's friend Nicole, an accounting major from Washington State. She has been traveling the world ever since she got her degree, and hasn't spent much time doing actual accounting. The hostel is higher then most of the city, so it overlooks it and has a great view of the bay and mountains. I checked my credit card balance and I had spent quite a lot of money so I decided from now on I am making my food here in the hostels. I went shopping for a belt, since I lost mine, and for basic groceries. I got back and made dinner. I started talking to my roommates more and we planned a trip to Gibbston to go wine tasting on Saturday. Steve has a huge collection of music and movies, I stole a few movies from him to watch, and the Eddie Vedder Into the Wild soundtrack which I have been looking for. I finished the night off watching a Quintin Terrintino zombie movie, Grindhouse : Planet Terror. I love zombie movies.

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