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Published: December 2nd 2013
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Saturday 30th November, 2013. Queenstown, Otago, South Island, New Zealand.
The weather was slightly better today but still a bit dodgy and quite cold. We strolled into town and made our way to the Skyline Gondola Station. The gondola takes you up the Doppelmayr Mountain where you have great views over the harbour and you can also can hike. Other options at the summit included a luge, paragliding, bungy jumping (none of which interested us - especially M). First we went to the viewing platform (790 m above sea level) where we could see over Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown. It was still fairly cloudy and the sun couldn't seem to make up its mind whether to come out or not. We took some photographs and then walked outside the Top station Building and watched the chairlift carry the luge riders to the start of the run down. We watched them hurtle down for a bit and then started off on the Loop Path Track. This would take us on a circlular walk around the summit (as promised in its name).
The path was very pleasant and wound its way through woodland largely made up of Douglas Firs. These trees
are known as Wildings as they are not native to NZ. They were introduced by the Europeans and are slowly taking over the hillsides at the expense of the indgigenous species. The indigenous plants fed and housed the indigienous birds so due to loss of habitat and food supply, many of the local endemic birds are on the brink of extinction. There was a big sign inviting trampers to pull up any Douglas Fir seedlings that they saw. We walked on until we came to the Ben Lomond lookout. This was located at the start of one of the old miner's trails which bore the same name. (Someone was feeling homesick when they named it!). It is commemorated with several iron statues of miners at work. We walked on until we rejoined the Top Station at the luge run. We went inside and took a few more photos from the viewing platform (the weather had improved). We then caught the gondala to return to the Base Station.
The views of the Remarkables Mountain Range had now cleared and we were able to take some good pictures. This is one of only two true North South running mountain ranges in
the world - so they really are remarkable. The other is in the USA. The Remarkables is also home to one of the closest ski areas to Queenstown.
By now we were feeling quite hungry. When we had met Lewis (Will's friend at Kinloch), he had recommended that we tried an Empanada. He had told us that they were sold from a kiosk on the wharf next to the public loos. These Empanadas are like Cornish Pasties but with much more exotic fillings. D had Steak and Blue Cheese, while M went for Mozarella, Oregano and Onion. They were DELICIOUS.
Next we went looking for a boat tour. There were a number of options - ranging in price from $25 to $45. D quite fancied a ride on the iconic TSS Earnslaw. We took a look but it was incredibly busy and very expensive. We decided we would prefer the longer cruise option with a company called Million Dollar Cruises. THey had had great reviews on Trip Advisor. The next one was at 2 pm so we had about an hour to kill.
We decided to walk over to the Queenstown Gardens. We spent a pleasant 45
minutes here looking at the Bowling Green, the lake and the Rose Garden. We decided that, weather permitting, we would come back after the boat ride and finish the walk around the gardens. We purchased our Million Dollar Cruise tickets at about 1.50 pm. Then we were treated to a brown trout feeding session from the Wharf. It seems they love minced beef. They threw themselves out of the water to get the little meatballs that were being thrown for them. Fishing is, strictly controlled here and anyone caught without the appropriate license will spend 2 days in prison and incur a very hefty fine.
We boarded the Million Dollar 2 tour boat. This was apparently the more stable of the two boats the company has. It was quite choppy on the lake and there was a very cold wind blowing. Everyone was asked to stay inside as we sped across the main body of Lake Wakatipu. This was to get to shelter as quickly as possible for those passengers who hadn't got good sea legs. Once we had rounded the peninsula and entered the Frankton Arm of the lake it became much calmer.
The guide was good
and pointed out the posh pads and the Hilton Hotel complex explaining that the posh pads had a micro climate (about 5 degrees warmer than anywhere else in Queenstown). These properties were millions of $NZ and considered very expensive. The Hotel Complex remains unfinished as RBS (the sponsor) has run out of money. So the Conference Centre and the rest of the apartments are just foundations. We carried on up the Frankton Arm until we came to the Kawarau Bridge. At this point we turned around as the water would be too shallow to continue. The Bridge was built by a couple of miners who thought that by incorporating sluice gates into the bridge they could dry out the river in order to access the river bed so as to easily pan for gold. This seriously backfired as the lake and river self regulated from other tributaries flowing in. They ended up considerably poorer rather than richer - over two years down the line.
The guide explained that the Channels in the Frankton Arm were very difficult to negotiate and it was very easy to run aground. One of the locals decided to mark out the channels with wooden
stakes so as to avoid any further damage to his boats. This was a wonderful idea - except with one slight problem. The wood that was used for the stakes was Willow. After a while this water loving tree started to sprout. Now there are Willow Islands all over the Frankton Arm. We passed a Catamaran which was built on the same principles as the Polynesians. Two canoes strapped together with a platform in between. This was a very clever idea, as if there was any damage there would still be one/two canoes left to transport any susrvivors. A wooden version of this boat was how the Maori first came to NZ. M got to steer the boat on the way back.
After the boat ride we finished our walk around Queenstown Gardens. We watched a few people playing Frizbee Golf. This is a fantastic idea where you complete 18 "holes" with a frizbee instead of a golf club and ball. The frizbee has to end up in a specially designed basket made of chains instead of in a hole. Then you go to the next tee and play the next "hole". The two lads we watched were pretty
good at it too.
After a bit of shopping we strolled back to the hostel. D cooked chicken for dinner which was delicious.
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