Down the mountain via local and express routes

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André at the Birds Ferry Lodge had recommended we take the Crown Range road as a shortcut to Queenstown, and we enjoyed it very much. At the summit we stood outside, teeth chattering, looking at the gorgeous view of Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and snow-dusted mountains as tiny flakes of snow fell around us. Then we descended into the valley. We went over to the Kawarau Bridge to take a look and possibly bungy jump, but there was a couple-hour wait so we decided to get lunch and try somewhere else. We ate at Gourmet Express in Queenstown - an homage to the American diner where we got burgers, steak sandwiches and chips (fries). Rich asked for mustard and was given “American mustard” or yellow mustard (I guess Dijon mustard is the standard everywhere else).
We took the gondola up the steep hill - so steep that Ben had to face the hillside as he and Gary went up. At the top, we ran into Penny and Greg (our fellow guests from the Birds Ferry Lodge) and told them Rich was about to jump at the Ledge Bungy, so they came along to watch. It was not encouraging to see the small cemetery located at the base of the gondola, under the bungy jump; Kiwi efficiency in action!
Rich did a great jump - he said this was easier than the Karawau Bridge we’d done last year because here you take a running jump; momentum keeps you from second-guessing yourself. He let out a healthy yell as he fell - it was actually pretty frightening to watch but he was exhilarated and on an adrenalin buzz all day. Another spectator was a college girl from Baltimore who agonized over whether to jump. We assured her she should, told her father it was safe, and then we moved on to enjoy some luging. Five runs down the luge tracks and I think we could have kept at it all day. On the last run, Rich flew down the advanced track with wild abandon and nearly took out a terrified teenage boy who flinched wide-eyed at the bottom of the track as Rich’s luge bore down upon him before coming to a quick halt. Miss Baltimore showed up toward the end, excited about her bungy and thinking about another one. She conducted a series of spongelike interrogations of us - where should she go on the North Island? Where should she bungy? I’m never averse to playing know-it-all but I’ve never seen someone so skilled at playing ask-it-all.
We had a beautiful drive to Te Anau beneath the snow-capped Remarkables along the shore of Lake Wakatipu and then across hilly terrain covered with yellow gorse bushes and topped by more striking mountains. In Te Anau we enjoyed dinner and wine at the cosy Redcliffe restaurant where a signed Lord of the Rings T-shirt indicated that the cast had visited there several years ago. Ben and Gary tried and enjoyed some Golden Rock beer ice cream; more of that malty taste they’d enjoyed a few nights earlier.
Tomorrow we have our self-drive up the Milford Road and a cruise on Milford Sound to look forward to - a nice leisurely day.

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Photos

Kawarau Gorge
The glacial runoff suspends minerals in the water which gives it a clean turquoise color.

Comments

[jenny]

yowza!!!!!!!!!!
wow!!!! way to go Rich! what an awesome picture of you. Uncle Mike-what's up dude? why no jump for you??! did you really almost run down a kid?!?! So Miss Baltimore really picked your brains eh? I see you guys are having the time of your life-good for you! Did you buy the lord of the rings t-shirt? alright guys-have fun, and no more running over people!!! lots of love !

[musosf]

answers
I'd taken a goofy little spill down the bank of a creek the day before, and was a bit too bruised to bungy. The t-shirt was in a glass case for viewing so we couldn't buy it but if we were obsessive enough I suppose we could have stolen it (or "nicked it" in Kiwi parlance...) The closest thing to a LOTR t-shirt we bought was from Mount Sunday (location of "Edoras" in The Two Towers), but that's another tale to be told soon...