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Published: September 6th 2011
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Our next stop was Queenstown, New Zealand. As part of the Rugby World Cup build up, Air New Zealand has a very funny safety video featuring the host team, the All Blacks, and ending with a granny streaking down the aisle. We’ve never seen so many people watching a safety video before and everybody was laughing along. It was only 3 hours across from Oz and the last 40 minutes or so we were treated to spectacular views over the Fiordlands and coming into Queenstown. The airport is surrounding by snow capped peaks, simply stunning. We were lucky to have a clear sky on our approach as it would have been a shame to have missed the amazing views.
Our hire car shop was located off site so we were collected in the courtesy van by a friendly local and sorted out in no time. The snow chain demonstration left us hoping we didn’t need to use them and luckily we were saved the pleasure. We checked into The Black Sheep hostel on Frankton Road, just outside the town centre in the mid afternoon. Our friends Sue and Lenny had arrived the night before and had recruited a new group
member, Edi from Perth, Australia. Mike & Cath arrived just after us and were staying close by. Julia had all sorts of trouble getting out of Sydney airport due to a power cut but eventually made it early evening. All assembled, we headed out to watch New Zealand trounce South Africa in the Tri-Nations (Rugby).
Heads were sore on our first day but Ade sorted the two of us out by cooking a big fry. We hit our 1st ski resort Coronet Peak which is only 20 minutes from Queentsown by car in time for the half day pass at 11.30am or so. Unfortunately, it lived up to its nickname, “Concrete Peak” - our good form from Thredbo had not followed us across ‘the ditch’ and we spent most of the day on our bums or knees. The views were splendid though and the craic was mighty. That night we hit The Pig and Whistle for a Sunday lamb roast and took it easy. This tactic paid off and our skills increased for day 2 at different ski resort, Cardrona. The snow was a lot better here and there were far less people. On the way back to Queenstown,
which takes about an hour drive, we stopped off at the Cardrona Hotel in the village of Cardrona. It is a hotel from the 1800’s gold mining rush in New Zealand and still features the original exterior.
That night we headed to Winnies bar in town for a pool competition. Turned out, it started an hour earlier so we walked out a little miffed. On our way out we met the manager who was having a smoke break and convinced us back up for a round on the house. Who could refuse such an offer, so up we went. And it was well we did as later on in the night they announced another competition - Milo eating, 1 cup in the fastest time for a free full day lift pass to Cardrona (worth $100). Milo is a dry malt powder drink from Australia. Ade and Lenny hopped up on the bar with a few Aussie lads and showed them how it was done. A photo finish would have been needed to decide 1st between the Poms so as a tie break Ade & Lenny had to race downing a man-hande (a litre) of milk (someone in the crowd,
you know who you are, was suggesting oil rather than milk but thankfully it was ignored). Ade was the winner this time but the staff were so impressed they both got free lift passes! Not a bad night’s work.
The following day Ade headed back up the mountain with the boys while Ash stayed at the hostel hanging out with Julia and Edi stuffing her face with cheese and wine and soaking in the outdoor hot tub. The girls also took a little trip into the town to see the lake during the day. Later that night we all hit the bar Dux Deluxe to try our luck at a trivia competition. We did not fare so well although we were in a draw for 3rd place, but we lost it on the tie break question. After we headed back to Winnies for some 2 for 1 drinks and some dancing. The bar has a lovely big wood fire and the whole roof opens every now and again to let all the hot air out. It can be quite refreshing, although very confusing the first time it happened and there was an almighty draft coming from somewhere and we
couldn’t tell where!
Wednesday was our first day on a 3rd resort, the Remarkables. These slopes have plenty of easy runs so it was nice to have some options. The snow cover was pretty decent too. Ash had an epic lift fail and some serious bruises as a result but luckily not too many people were witnesses. Poker was the competition of the evening and Lenny, Edi and Ade headed down as soon as we got back to enter while Ash and Julia tucked into a delicious Indian dinner. We all met back up at the Ministry where the competition was held. It was a long night but Ade prevailed and won the whole thing! There were 76 players so it was a decent result. His winnings of $100 were quickly converted into beer for his new local “friends” (think Inbetweeners).
Thursday we were back up at Cardrona for our best day on the snow so far and that night we ate out at Speight’s Ale House then headed to Ministry for pool and karaoke. Ade, Mike and Lenny all treated us to some vocal delights.
Friday we decided we needed a time out. After hearing all week
Strapping in
why are these benches not at every chairlift ! about the best burgers in town, we finally went to Fergberger. We’re happy to report it lives up to its reputation. Big massive delicious burgers for $10-$16. There isn’t much seating so there are people spilling out into the street eating. The queue took about 20 minutes too but still isn’t a deterrent for the die-hard fans. The rest of the day we spent panned out on bean bags in the living room of the hostel and had a movie marathon. It was brilliant, arguably our favourite day.
Sat was the group’s last day together so Ash, Ade, Lenny and Edi headed back to the Remarkables for one last play in the snow. The weather didn’t behave though so after an unpleasant 30 minutes stuck on a lift in 100km+ winds we got our lift passes refunded and headed back to town for our last night out. The whole gang went for a curry at Freya’s Indian which was great. For old time’s sake we had a few 2 for 1 drinks in Winnies before trying out World Bar which had far better music so we threw a few shapes before calling it a night. Ade even found time
to squeeze in another Fergburger.
Sunday we all headed for lunch and said our goodbyes to the gang. It was tough as we’re not heading back to Sydney but we’d had such an awesome week.
We returned the car and collected the Britz campervan. It felt like a bus, and took a little getting used to. We checked into a nice camp site just 2km out of town called Q. Our site backed onto a stream and we crossed a little bridge to get to the facilities, it was a lovely start to the road trip. We were up for the beautiful sunrise and drove the van into town to park before heading off on our activity day.
First stop – the famous Shotover Jet. This consisted of a jet boat ride on a river in a canyon. We executed many 360 turns and came within touching distance of the walls several times which was fun but never felt out of control. Next stop was a helicopter ride to the Remarkables looking back over Queenstown. This was fantastic, we even got to get out at the top and walk around. On the ride back Ash got to sit up
with the pilot which was excellent. We dropped a passenger to the Sky Line so the trip was longer than usual which was a bonus.
The trip brought our Queenstown adventure to an end. It really was a great way to say goodbye to some fabulous friends. Next stage for us: campervaning from Queenstown to Auckland and a few places in between. Out for now.
Thanks to Julia and Edi who kindly donated some of their photos :-)
*** More photos !! - scroll down to the bottom of this page plus click to page 2 and then also scroll down to the bottom ***
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Katrina
non-member comment
Cozy
Looks cozy there. Glad you had such a good time. Looking forward to the next installment. x