Hiking Queenstown Hill

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[youtube=yNXTt-4H150]

I awoke this morning still a little groggy from the night out last night but I still went out on my morning run. I went downstairs and saw the cloud covered sky outside the window. The ground was damp but it didn’t appear to be raining. As I stepped through the door a few drops began to fall. By the time I was done loosening up, the rain started.

I still went out in it. The rain actually felt really good as it cooled me down along the way. Plus it had the fresh smell of a spring rain.

Soaked when I finished, I returned to the hostel and got cleaned up. I spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon organizing my pictures and writing yesterday’s entry. The video upload process was a real pain and cost me a couple hours. But at least I didn’t miss much of the nice weather that came along later.

I didn’t have any organized activities scheduled so I went out on a hike of the nearby Queenstown Hill. Mel and Tal had hiked this a couple days ago and recommended it for the 360° views at the top.

Getting to the base of the hill’s walking path proved to be the most physically challenging aspect of the walk, with steeply graded roads leading the way. The walk on the path on the way up took just over an hour, with stops to read some of the signs that give the history of Queenstown, take pictures, see the uniquely colored wild mushrooms and absorb the many scenic views of the forest’s depths, the surrounding hills and the vividly blue lake below.

As I neared the top, the wind began to pick up, whipping in all directions. A commercial airliner had just departed the airport and flew over the lake at an altitude just above mine, giving me a great view of it before it banked away from me. The lake and surrounding hills completed the picture and were really the highlight of the beauty.

I looked around (video) for several minutes and then took off to explore the surrounding areas. I headed in the direction opposite to where I came up the path, cutting across the bush lands, climbing down some rock faces and hiking my way out to the edge of a 30+ foot cliff before stopping. Nearby sat the deep, alpine covered valley adjacent to the town’s center. Farther off in the distance were some tall, seemingly snow capped mountains.

I made my way back to the peak and proceeded farther down the rolling path. I came upon some grazing sheep, snapped a picture and started my descent.

I dined at the hostel with a few people I met in the kitchen - Kevin from Calgary and two girls (Sophie and Jess) from England. The girls are touring New Zealand now and they recently finished an Australia tour similar to the one I have planned. They showed me a bunch of their pictures from a glacier hike they did on their way here in Franz Josef, New Zealand. The glacier is 12 km (about 7 miles) long and allowed for a very scenic hike. They even had to use their crampons and a rope to climb up an ice wall.

James, Cat and I went out again tonight to Winnie’s and World Bar. It was Mel’s last night here and she didn’t want to join us so she stayed back with Charlie and Jack.

This part of the story gets a little hazy…

I came home around 1:00 and chatted with Mel (it was her last night here), Charlie and Jack for a while before someone (I think James, who had since returned) came down and told us there was a drunk girl on the floor outside our room. She had vomited in the corner so Charlie, James and I went down to inform the front desk. The guy at the desk (the same one that told me I’m doing Nevis) came with us to inspect it. He was not happy.

When we got back upstairs, the girl had passed out cold. We entertained the idea of getting her to the hospital while Charlie and someone carried her limp body into the women’s room and tossed her into a stall. There she began to respond again and started getting more of the booze out of her system. The guttural sounds emerging from the bathroom were unlike any we ever heard.

We had discovered that this girl was actually the new girl in our room and she was supposed to be sleeping in the top rack above Mel. Obviously this wouldn’t work so we managed to pawn her off on two girls that she had been hanging out with earlier in the day. They couldn’t have been pleased with us.

I headed to bed. I have too much I want to do here rather to end up like the drunk girl.

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Photos

Sky
Looking straight up at the sky through the trees.

Amanita muscaria
These poisonous red mushrooms are found throughout the walk.

Surrounding hills
The surrounding hills and snowcapped peaks well off in the distance.

[/i]Lake Wakatipu
A shot of me high above the lake.[i]

Douglas Fir trees
Small, non-native Douglas Fir trees grow amongst the bush.

Valley
The deep valley that leads to the edge of Queenstown.

Sheep
Some of the sheep I saw on my walk farther out the path.