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Published: March 17th 2013
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I sleep SO well in the dorm and have a relaxed morning before heading off to do the Ben Lomand Summit track at 10am. First it’s a bit of a climb up the track behind the gondola, and then it levels out to a fairly easy alpine track climb through the forest, opening up to stunning views of the lake and Queenstown. This takes a few hours and then from Ben Lomaand Saddle it is an hour of hard steep walking to the peak on rough shingly/mud ground. The views from the peak however are amazing – 360 degree views of Queenstown, the lake, the Remarkables and the surrounding mountains. I eat my lunch at the top and chill for half an hour before heading back down. Coming down on the shingle is quite difficult – more so than up and really aches your knees. At the gondola station I decide to have a drink and bask in the sunshine whilst watching the parapenters taking off from the hill and people coming down the luge. From here it is only another 30mins down on the Tiki Track and I am back in town by 4.30pm. When I was on the top
of Ben Lomand I had a text from a friend I made I Te Anau called Anna as she was heading to Wanaka and said did I want to meet up and do some walking as she had a car and was house sitting. Once down the mountain I gave Anna a call and discussed plans and options. She only had the house and car for a week, and all of the walks in Wanaka start 60km from the town, so having a car is the only option. This was an opportunity too good to miss and it would be nice to do some walks with company. Luckily I hadn’t booked my bus to Mount Cook yet for tomorrow so I logged on and booked a seat on the bus to Wanaka – so exciting! And the person whose house it is offered that I could stay there as well, so I don’t even need to find accommodation! Result! This is exactly why I didn’t want to over plan my trip and book everything in advance as I wouldn’t be able to make the most of amazing opportunities like this!
After packing my bag and having a chill out
I go for a wander round another area of Queenstown gardens and town which I didn’t explore on the first day, so lovely in the early evening. I had another lovely evening in the hostel, dinner and chatting to people. I then get a text from Claire (Claire and Jordan, who I stayed with in Auckland), seeing how it is all going and where I am. It turns out they got to Queenstown an hour ago, so I go and meet them for an evening stroll around Queenstown. It is SO great to see them and catch up and all they have been doing and they are really interested in all the work I was doing in Te Anau with the kids and everything I have seen so we spend a good few hours catching up. I then head back around midnight, luckily all packed and ready for my early morning bus to Wanaka tomorrow!
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Debbie cull
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Wow
Kate the photos are amazing definitely on the wish list of places to visit x