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Published: November 17th 2012
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We had planned to travel to Queenstown on this very important day to celebrate a big birthday with our friend Sarah! I was pretty excited to get to spend my birthday with someone else from home (apart from James obviously!) makes things a bit nicer! So we were up a bit earlier than I would have liked in order to get to the airport for our short flight. Unfortunately the flight was delayed, meaning spending more time in the airport than anyone would like for a birthday, but it was a short delay and we were soon on our way. Flying into Queenstown was really special! You get really low under the snow capped alps, into a narrow valley where the runway is. We were waiting for Sarah to finish work and meet us so we mostly spent the afternoon getting some food and just staring at huge incredible scenery. Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of New Zealand, but no one ever mentions it is breathtakingly stunning, especially at the moment when there is still snow on the peaks. Some of the sights around here were used in Lord of the Rings and more recently they have been filming
The Hobbit here. After meeting Sarah and Ben when they finished work, we went back to their house, which just happens to have a big terrace overlooking the lake and the Remarkables, we we not sure how they ever get anything done! Sarah had some cards and things for me from home, which was really nice! Then we all went out for the most lovely dinner in town and some birthday cocktails.
The next day Sarah and Ben were doing a race (one thing we have learned about QT is that if you are not outdoorsy when you get here you will be when you leave!), so we were given a list of things to see and headed into town. In QT there is a steep gondola to the top of the hill overlooking town. This hill contains walking tracks, zip wires and downhill bike tracks ( they don't seem to do going up hill here!), with a bungee platform and a luge track at the top. We walked up to the top, assured by Sarah that it was a nice 40min walk up to the top and we could get the gondola down. Half way up we found
the track to be closed, with a vague diversion in place which we quickly lost. After a steep long scrabble up the hill we found ourselves to be on the downhill bike track for advanced cyclists.... Not made for walking! The weather was a bit rainy and cloudy at this point but we still got a great view at the top. We had a go on he luge track (not on snow like a true luge kind of like a downhill go cart track) then got the gondola down. Shortly after this the heavens opened. We headed for a coffee shop and waited for Sarah and Ben. After an infamous "Fergburger," they drove us to Glenorchy for a walk around the beautiful area. This is one of the settings used in Lord of The Rings. When we got back we found ourselves all asleep on the sofa! On the evening Sarah took us out to show us the sights of QT. Needless to say it was a pretty big night out, but we had a lot of fun indeed! The next day, Sarah was free all day so she had sorted us out some bikes so we could all go
cycling. It all started well as we headed for Arrowtown, a town built during the gold rush and retaining its charm to this day. We cycled about 30-40 minutes along this lovely flat scenic track, with some stunning swing bridges over deep valleys, before suddenly James' chain tied itself in knots. We could do nothing to fix it by the road, so in the end we had to give up and get the car to take the bikes back. It was a real shame as the weather was lovely and we we getting really into it! So instead we sat and ate some lunch by the river in the sun, went to look at the bungee bridge over the river and decided it wasn't for us, the went back into the town. In QT they have an activity called Frisbee Golf. This is pretty much exactly what is says on the tin! You hire a Frisbee and take it to the park where there is a course of 18 'holes' where you start from one point and have to get the frisbee into a net in as few throws as possible. It's lots of fun and a nice way to
spend a sunny Sunday, but mostly we were rubbish! Holding up the 'pro' frisbee players! On the evening, tired out from the last few days and with an early start the next day, we stayed in and planned our camper an road trip with Sarah's help. We had a brilliant time in QT and it is the most stunning place, now we are so excited for what the rest of New Zealand holds, and really enjoying doing more than sitting on buses and visiting beaches! (never thought I would say such a thing!
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