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Published: January 18th 2009
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The weather on the drive out of Milford was just as miserable as the drive in. The numerous waterfalls again making up for the heavy rainfall. The next stop was Queenstown, adventure capital of New Zealand.
Queenstown sits right on Lake Wakatipu and has the aptly named “The Remarkables” mountains overlooking the area. They truly are remarkable, their jagged landscape making them unique in New Zealand, which being a volcanic country sitting on 2 tectonic plates has mountains by the dozen! We arrived in Queenstown welcomed by lovely beaming sunshine, quite the contrast to the dismal weather conditions suffered in Milford. We were soon to discover how changeable the weather in the area can become though. On our 1st evening as we wandered about in shorts and t-shirts, the sun was shining. However after a quick stop in the local supermarket for some shopping, we were greeted by teeming rain as we drove out of the (thankfully) sheltered car park! The weathers seemingly whimsical ability to change didn’t stop there. The next morning when we woke up, the rain was still beating down outside, only for it to completely disappear a mere 2 hours later, with the sun fully resurgent
in the sky, leaving no trace of the rain whatsoever.
So armed with our sun cream and our rain coats, we headed off to do our bungy jump. With a choice of 3 different bungy jumps in the area, we decided on the one situated 400 metres high above Queenstown known as The Ledge Bungy. The ledge itself is located high up on Bob’s Peak and housed by the Skyline complex. This meant we had another gondola ride up a mountain just like Rotorua, though the one in Queenstown is reputed to be the steepest lift in the Southern Hemisphere. So, while up there, we decided to do some more Luging as well for good measure! (For a description on The Luge see the Rotorua blog ha-ha 😊).
The Ledge Bungy is the only urban bungy of the 3 options in Queenstown, and because of its position offers amazing sights of the town. We had time for 1 quick Luge down the hill before steadying our nerves and heading towards the Ledge. The Ledge Bungy is like no other, in that it comes equipped with a 'runway' to launch yourself from and has a special Bungy harness which
allows you to vary your Bungy Jump style. We had the option of trying a flip, twist, or numerous other ways of throwing ourselves off, but both decided on a rather standard and straightforward leap. The running start definitely helped, it meant we couldn’t look down and let our nerves get the better of us. We are beginning to think that we are slowly becoming adrenalin junkies. We loved the fear and exhilaration that rushed through our bodies in the 1st couple of seconds after our feet left the ledge. The thrill of a bungy is fleeting however compared with that of a skydive, and soon after we were contemplating going again.. We decided against it though, and continued on the Luge tracks for a while longer.
For anybody counting by the way, that’s the SkyJump in Auckland, The SkySwing in Rotorua, The SkyDive in Wanaka and the Bungy Jump in Queenstown all conquered! We’ll jump off or out of anything! HAHA
As for the town itself, Queenstown has a charm that we haven’t come across thus far in our tour of New Zealand. The combination of the lakeside setting, the buildings designed to look that bit older
than they actually are, the extreme activities and the volume of bars and restaurants, its no wonder that Queenstown attracts the huge number of tourists that it does. The town was heaving with people. There is plenty to do in it though and truth be told, because it’s so popular, the businesses have upped their prices. Queenstown is quite a lot more expensive than the rest of New Zealand.
Queenstown Gardens was a lovely rest bite from the maddening crowds of the town. Queenstown's first businessman, Bendix Hallenstein gave the Gardens to the public in 1866. There is a Frisbee Golf course in there which was the first of its kind established in New Zealand. Quite a lovely place to spend an evening unwinding after an adrenalin fuelled day.
Our hostel was situated right on the lake, with us having a lovely view of it from our window. It was lovely to wake up each morning to the views of the lake and The Remarkables We were a mere 5 minute walk from the centre of town which didn’t bother us at all because it meant we got to walk along the lake on our way in &
out. It was an especially enjoyable walk the night we got a “Fergburger” on the way home. Available only in Queenstown, the outlet is open 22 hours a day! Quite impressive I think you’ll agree. The burgers were COLOSSAL. Bigger than our hands and took an eternity to finish. In Lynsey’s case, she needed a second attempt for breakfast the next morning! They were certainly a huge cut above anything any other fast food chain could muster. So much tastier and you could tell that it really was beef you were eating!
Before our time in Queenstown came to an end, we took a short drive to neighbouring Arrowtown; a historic gold mining town 20 minutes drive away. The town was once flooded with people at the height of the gold rush in the 19th century. The remnants of a Chinese settlement remain in the area and you can still rent a pan and do some panning for gold in the river. We gave it a miss figuring surely there couldn’t be any left otherwise it would be more than just a tourist attraction these days! The village is very small and full of character, with the design of
the buildings very much in step with what it may have looked like back in the gold rush days.
We really liked Queenstown but having spent 4 nights there, we were itching to get on the road again and see somewhere new. Dunedin was the next stop…
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