Queenstown :D

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Queenstown
August 22nd 2009

Published: August 22nd 2009

...wow, what can I say? Having an out of this world experience!! Absolutely loving it, so glad I decided to come here!!

So on the 13th (Thurs) we got up eeeeeeeeearly to go to the airport - just managed to fit everything in my suitcase :p and got the plane to Queenstown!! Was sitting at the window next to a couple with a 1-year old kid (white, and called Izuku?!) who was crying furiously, wee shame. The pressure in his water bottle then sprayed on to everyone in close range, including me, too funny. Got to Queenstown, gorgeous views coming in, you wouldn't believe it!! What I imagine Ireland to look like - green rolling hills, snow-capped mountains behind, merging in to the clouds. Nice Scottish chill in the air too :D I got a shuttle to the backpackers and got my room key, room 206, and met Dan and Andy, 2 of the Aussie guys :D Dan took me around and showd me Queenstown and we took some pics 😊 I went to the sueprmarket to buy foooood, and I'm pretty sure we went out that night after I cooked my veg :p to Altitude bar, the backpacker's bar (its awesome) and it was horizontal bungee night (the attatch folk to a bungee cord and they run across the bar to grab a drink then have to run back and give it to their partner to drink and not spill it) - hilarious, as you can imagine :p played some pooooool, and hoyed it to bed me thinks.

Fri 14th - got up late-ish, and went for a run, round to the right of the lovely lake, up a hill, and explored the woodland a bit. Words cannot describe now magical this area is!! No wonder its a total tourist honeypot :p came back, hoyed shower and brekkie (I found Outward Bound New Zealand cereal!!) and me and Andy climbed to the top of the gondela after I checked out all my bookings and booked my tattoo (wish I still had my walking boots, haha) and chatted and we did the luge 5 times - I eventually won one!! Walked back down the hectic "one mile" track (which IS NOT one mile, by the way - definitely an Outward Bound-style hiking track, and poor Andy kept falling on his coxix (sp?!) which he had already hurt snowboarding!! Saw a lovely waterfall on the way back though 😊 got him some ice, and cooked my veg :D met a kool guy called Ozzy who kept me entertained through dinner :p it was ladies night at the bar so we went there and I got cheap wine :D then went to other places, was a really good night, played a little pool as well. Had my first Fergburger... what can I say, by far the best burger place in the world, and I'm not even a big burger fan!! Hoyed it to bed.

Sat 15th - went for another run, round to the left of the lake this time, through a bit of the botanical gardens, very nice!! Hoyed a shower/brekkie, then did the Nevis Arc!! Totally awesome - I think its the worlds highest swing. You get strapped in and they trolly you out and they ask how you'd like to do it, I did it upside down and backwards, it as awesome!! The sensation was actually better than the bungee I think, though you didn't get the awesomeness of throwihng yourself off. You freefall for a bit, then make a massive arc across the river canyon - and you actually go really close to the bottom (well it feels like it) - and you keep swinging for a bit, and you can flip yourself and twist in the harness, it was so kool!! Got the bus back, and me and the guys went to play mini-golf - it was hilarious, it must be the best indoor mini-golf place in the world, they had 18 massively over-decorated holes, with machines that pop out your ball in one of several different locations on the course, lifts to take your ball to a height, musical features... too funny. I was wooping their asses until I had 2 disasterous holes at the end, which pushed me in to third (andy won with 80, I had 82, grr) ach well. Got a free lemonade :p then went back and cooked my veg and then I went for a nice walk round about Queenstown - lots of hills, but Queenstown central is pretty small, think I walked around it all twice in an hour and a half :p

Sun 16th - got up nice and early for Paragliding!! Got the chairlift, nice views, and met with Tim? to go do it. Very friendly guy, we went to the launching hill and got strapped up and I had to run down the hill, which then suddenly went very steep - beforehand, he'd said to keep running when i got to that bit, which was a bit worrying as it was cliff-like, but we took off well before it - its funny, you're still running when you take off and your legs are still doing that motion, must be funny to watch!! It was spectacular, so peaceful. Didn't last long though, cuz we did soem aerobatics (downwards spiral!!) but was still well worth it. Landed in the primary school field, narrowly acoiding a granny and her little boy who decided to get out of the way just in time :p nice landing, on the feet and running!! Tim was from England, seriously, everyone here is either from the UK or Australia, its too funny - never met so many Scottish people in my life!! You really notice the accent when you're abroad as well :p went back and had a nice cup of tea, and went on my wine tour!! It was funny, it was me and 3 couples, one old, one middle-aged and one young. They were all quite kool, and the woman that took us was also sound. We went to four different places, all of which were very informative, and I really liked the fact they actusally gave us a choice about which wines we tasted. I have a new favourite - some form of white Riesling :p the Roses were all pretty good too. The desert wines were awesome (think I was the only one that actually liked them though) and, as with that last one, I was the only one that actually spat out some of the wine!! Everyone else got tipsey, was hilarious to watch. I was the young responsible one :p got to wander around in the vinyard fields while they were all having ridiculously expensive lunch (which I passed on) :p which was awesome - it was a lovely day, and magical views. Went back, cooked me veg, checked out the tv room (nice touch, but not really my thing) talked to Tim, new room-mate (Tim and Sam were from England, 19 but looked 15) and went with Steve to get him a Fergburger then hoyed to bed. Got very pissed off at Dan who came in noisily, then at Tim and Sam - Sam went and locked himself out in his underwear, and kept knocking until someone opened the door (guess who had to get up and do it) - was not impressed. They were pretty apologetic in the morning though, so it was fine, we all do stupid things when we're drunk. Finally got some sleep :p

Mon 17th - another early one, this time for my snow-shoeing hike!! We went to the remarkables ski-resort and hiked up the sloped and to a frozen lake, was awesome!! It was just me and the guide and a 25-year old girl who looked about 17 from Luxemburg - was funny, we all totally mucked up when we guessed each other's ages - I thought the guide (Mark?) was 32 and he was actually 41, I thought Isabella was about 20 (until she told me she was a teacher, then I thought 23) :p and Marc thought I was 20 and second guess 22, and thought Isabella was 18, too funny. We had good craic that day. And the shoes and poles were a lot of fun :p I took pictures hehe. Just had to write "Lynn <3's Roy" in the snow on the frozen lake, since I'd done it in the sand ages ago in SA... damn, nostalgia!! since we were so fit, after an awesome picnic lunch and coffee, we hiked right up to the top of the corrie that the lake was in, which Mark had never done before, so we were all pretty chuffed!! Tried to bum-slide down, but the snow was too icy. Got picked up by Peter and went back to base. Went with Andy to Stillettis (sp?!) - a shop that a girl owned who he'd met the previous night, who wanted him to design a website for her. Was kool, they kept asking my opinion and I was like emm (knowing nothing about web-design, really) maybe you should concentrate on advertising the shop itself rather than focusing on the specific products? Was funny. Cooked my veg, and went for another walk, was nice, round the lake.

Tue 18th - another early one (getting in to a pattern here) for skydiving!! Upgraded to 15000ft, the highest one :p and got a dvd. Had a guy called Marcus, and a photographer also called Marcus (I think) :p was kool, everyone in the waiting room was crapping themselves and talking really fast, was funny. I was in the very first group of the day, with 2 girls from Canada - they were only doing the 12000ft, so they got chucked out then we continued up for mine. Would be a fun job actually, flying forl up for skydives all day :p we had to have extra oxygen when we went above 13000 ft, and my ears totally popped!! Was fine the next day though, the pressure is immense. It was so kool - I had to sit on Marcus's lap while he strapped us together, then we went to the door, and he just pushed us out - had to keep the banana shape, but its so incredible, when you go out and you just rotate loads then just fall and spin round, while the guy's camera is in your face :p your face makes shapes you didn't even think were possible to make :p and its freexzing against your face!! Such an experience though. And when he pulled the parachute, its all of a sudden calm - similar to paragliding, actually - and everything beneeath seems so small, even the mountains seem small when you're up there!! We did some aerobatics again, was sweet. Landing was kool, just had to bum-slide :p bought a top, got free coffee, then back to base. Quite tiring, jumping out of a place at 15000ft for breakfast!! :p next was the shotover jet, which was kool, though not overly thrilling - more for the oldies I think :p did some 360degree spins though, which were fairly kool. Views of the skippers canyon on the shotover river were just spectacular. Met an Irish guy on the bus home, chatted to him for a bit. Unfortunately my white-water rafting was cancelled due to a tree falling over that part of the river :p so re-shceduled for tomorrow morning. Met my new room-mate (the Aussies went home) 😞 Andis, a Norwegian guy - he's awesome, got to know him pretty well. Showed him around the town and he bought me hot chocolate :D hoyed dinner and went to the bar - and that was the night of the vibrator race - possibly the koolest race I've ever particiipated in - enough said :p its not as bad as it sounds, you just have to pick a number, and you get a vibrator, and there's an inclined table and you just race your vibrators down the table. Mine lost, as I got drawn the tiny one :p however, as I went over a particular card, I got a free drink :D it was so funny, in the final, the girl who won won becasuse they put ice on the table and hers just slipped down. Too funny. Checked out world bar and got a teapot (cocktails in a teapot!!) was kool. Went back to bed.

Wed 19th - dear god, this was the day I nearly died :p seriously though, I don't think I've been that scared in my life. So i got up early to go to the rafting place, and chatted to some dudes from England, and eventually went, after 2 Russian girls turned up half an hour late (who I ended up making friends with) :p and we got our gear (they gave me a size 1 wetsuit - what were they thinking?! I only just fitted in to it, had to get help though) :p luckily they gave me size 2 wet jacket and wet body warmer :p we had wet shoes and socks and gloves and a life-jacket and helmet (mine didn't fit and flapped about, which made the ordeal a whole lot more terrifying) and I was in the first helicopter with the 2 Russians - got to sit in the front at the side, and the doors were transparent, so got awesome views of the canyon and was thrilling when we did tight turns!! Got there and the Russians, Sasha and Elena, were totally mental, running about the place :p waited for everyone else, and they blew the rafts up and I got put with 6 folk from Brisbane - I was sitting at the back with the instructor, so had more control over the steering whichw as pretty kool. It was all going well until we got to the first set of rapids - 6 in a row, all with different names :p and we capsized on the first one, right on top of me :p basically the raft behind us was going too fast, so we tried to stop to let them past but hit a rock and flipped backwards and to the side - was caught under the raft for a few seconds, then came up, and all 8 of us went down all 6 rapids on our bums, in the water - was bloody terrifying, you hit a rapid, got chucked about, sucked under, came up, same again, flew towards the canyon rock, missed in narrowly - thank god for the helmet :p0 my foot touched the bottom at one point, and I realised now fast we were actually going :p came to the end of the 6 and found I couldn't actually swim to the side, the current was too strong, and someone tried to throw me a throw-bag but totally missed. So the poor guy in the kayak had to come and rescue pretty much all of us :p at one point I was holding on to the back a,d he capsized so I let go, and we ended up going down more rapids, eventually he managed to drag me close enough to the side so I could swim out - and at that point, I could only find 2 of the other folk in my group, one of whom had dislocated his shoulder, which was worrying. Eventually, the others trapsed along who had been unlucky enough to be dragged further down the river - we were all alive :p though I managed to burst my lip at somepoint (again) :p getting good at that it seems!! Managed to retrieve the raft and got spare paddles from the other raft, and continued - went through a tunnel which was pretty kool!! Poor girl sitting in from of me was in shock, was a shame, she managed to get to the end though 😊 then I managed to fall out at the end as well, at the last rapid, just cuz the boat flipped in my direction and I just kina slip out :p it was awesome though, the photographer managed to get an action-shot of me flaling out!! It was fine that one though, it wa at the end so no more rapids, sop could just swim out. What an ordeal though!! Hoyed it in the sauna, lots of chatter about what had happened, then got free coffee and biccies and hoyed it back to base. Bought a Fergburger and sat on the beach to recover :p then went rock-climbing with a guy called Dave, it was awesome!! We went to an easy-site first, and did a coupe easy climbs, I belayed a bit too - learned a lot, I think some of the stuff in SA was a bit dodge, tbh - I did have my doubts about belaying behind my back, and was proved right :p went to a m ore difficult site, and did some kool climbs - got nice photos and there was lovely views - by the lats hour I was pretty tired though, and I struggled a bit. Went back, booked my skiing at Coronet Peak for the next day, and went back to base and had hot choc that Andy had left me :p damn, tiring day!! Read a bit, then went to the bar to see the live band, and ended up chatting to the guitarist - I liked their style, their bassist/singer was awesome, good sound with only 3 folk!! Bumped in to Sasha and Elena again, and met their friend Andy, who in Chinese/Malay, he was awesome, totally hit it off with him, chatted for ages, nice to chat to someone totally on my wavelength, even though he was 30!! Danced a bit, then went back to bed.

Thurs 20th - got up early for skiing!! Was quite hard at first, fell off the top of the chairlift :p real snow is harder than dry sloped - but so much better :p got in to it pretty quick, but stayed on the beginner.intermadiate slopes - tryed one of the hard ones and it was way too sleep for me at this stage - managed to keep control though :D had some nice wipe-outs though, totally fooked my knee, but it was fine the next day :D went back to get my tattoo!! Was a bit nervous about the pain-factor, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be actually - bit nippy, like someone's scraping at you, it was a bit bad when he was filling in the stars though, the needle is pretty small!! But it looks great, I'm well happy with it, its very precise and delicately done. Bigger than I had originally planned, but it looks good that way - you'll all see it soon enough :p its the bunny Ted drew, as I was nicknamed "cottontail" in SA and the southern cross around it - we went a lot of time looking at stars in SA... lovely momento of my time there with amazing people 😊 got a photo with Brent, my tattooist - he was really kool, we chatted a lot about music and gigs. Went back, had Thursday Fish N' Chips at the bar :D though they forgot about my order!! Had a shower, then went out with Andis to world bar, but took ages to get served so went to an Irish Pub instead - Andis totally loved it!! A drunk ginger Irish guy grabbed me and I ended up crazy dancing with him, just us 2, on the dancefloor. and everyone was clapping and stamping, it was too funny. Another guy asked me if I was Japanese, haha. Went back via the fudge place (ooh, the fudge place, too good) :p but it was shut. Bed!!

Fri 21st - slept in a bit, then decided to go snowboarding - just caught the bus in time for teh adult started pack :p went to remarkables, we awesome!! Had 2 lessons, and practiced in between - by the end of it I could turn, which was my aim, so I was well happy!! Linking turns is so kool - I'm still a bit messy and some are a bit big when I'm going fast, but its all good :p had some nice falls though, tailbone and knees hurt!! A lot of fun 😊 went back and hoyed dinner and met a Scottish guy and went for a drink with him before talking to Caroline on skype :D turned out he fancied me though, oh dear. Went out with Andis for our last night, and met Andy, the Chinese/Malay guy!! Was kool. Also met out new roomies and danced with them. Went to Buffalos and World Bar, had an awesome night dancing, had a Fergburger too :p

And today, Sat 22nd, got up early after an hour of sleep (didn't get in til 5ish, and then read cuz I wasn't tired) :p and had a shower and brekkie and packed (mission) and went for an ice-cream with Andis - sooo good, but filling!! Ooh, I've started to read again, pretty kool, Jimi Hendrix biography :D picked u his skis and waited with him for his bus and said bye!! Booked a shuttle to the airport, then got a text from Andy saying he could take me to the airport so cancelled it :p and going to meet him now!!

So I'm running out of time here - will update soon if I can - home on Wed!! Can't believe I'm leaving Queenstown already, its gorgeous here. Well excited to be coming home though - LA will be kool though :D:D :D xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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