Queenstown
The drive to Queenstown, like all of our drives in NZ, was pleasant, beautiful, leisurely and of course filled with moments of rain. We see the large lake Wakatipu that Queenstown sits beside when we pull into town. On our approach about 10-12 kilometers outside town we pass by the bridge where the world famous and original A.J. Hackett bungee jump takes place. Queenstown is COOL!! It has a resort feel sort of like Tahoe. The town is small and easy to walk around. You know there are adventures taking place since the streets are dotted with offerings of some way to get the adrenaline pumping. Our hotel “The Lofts” is one street off the water and right off downtown. It’s the evening when we roll in and a little rainy. We walk the streets to get a feel and also to find a bookstore so Lisa can pick up a new read since she has finished her last one. After this we rest up at our hotel and then step out for dinner at “Fishbones “ for some local seafood. Even after our meal it is still light out. We walk to the lake’s edge and look through the crystal clear waters as they light up the shoreline. We then pop into the local pub for a beer and are delighted to find and land our butts into a couple of comfortable leather chairs near a fire and a big screen TV showing the Australian Open tennis tournament semifinal with Andre Aggasi -vs- the South African Ferrara. Andre beat him easily in 3 straight sets to move on to the finals. We have settled in nicely and look forward to some adventure / adrenaline rush of our own tomorrow. 1/24 Friday Just across from our hotel was a very nice café called the “Caf Naf” where we have coffee and breakfast muesli. This morning we are going to ride the “Shotover Jetboat” on the Shotover River. This is an activity we’ve seen on television and it looks exciting. Our best estimates couldn’t match our experience. It was AWESOME!! Riding on the jet-boat driven by our skilled and personable jet-boat driver Wayne we race up and down through canyons being no less than inches away from the jagged rock ledges. We barely miss rocks, logs, trees and the shallow corners. Added in were the more than half dozen 360 degree spins we made. Our captain would give us the sign by twirling his index finger in the air in a circle sort of mimicking the whoop-dee-doo signal and moments later we were spinning seemingly out of control to soon come to a spot right back where we started. In the beginning it was raining in the canyon and we almost had to delay the trip. We did take a bit of a lashing to the face from the rain and with the wind chill it was quite cold. Great fun. After this we headed back into town and took the gondola to the top of a mountain overlooking the lake and the city. It is spectacular to understate it. At the top they also have a luge ride track that we road five times. It was fun and kept feeding our need for a speed rush still settling in from our jet-boat ride. The luge got moving pretty fast and we laughed like kids. We ate lunch at the café then watched the bungee jumpers at the observation deck and then headed down the mountain on the second half of our gondola ride. The adrenaline wearing off and the cold weather seeping in, it was time for what had become a small ritual for us… Nap Time! Our final dinner in Queenstown and NZ for that matter would be at the “Boardwalk” restaurant. It is a very nice local spot, right on the wharf. Before entering the restaurant we walk out to the wharf and stand witness to an amazing sunset. The clouds had parted and the light fell through to put a spotlight on the lake, the city and the mountains. The colors of the water glistened and the waterfront shined with a golden sheen while the snow capped mountains (yes, it is summer) stood proud in the backdrop. It was as beautiful as anything I’d seen before and I think Lisa would say the same. We looked over the side of the wharf to see three baby ducks paddling around below us. They were adorable and soon herded away by their mother who seemed to give one duckling a verbal lashing for not coming back into the fold fast enough. The duckling was soon skimming across the water to catch up with its siblings. Our table at the restaurant is a window seat and we are able to continue to catch the stunning views of the waterfront and its surroundings as the light fades and nightfall begins. The restaurant has the distinct honor of having then president and now former president Bill Clinton dine there in 1999. Not to be outdone by a presidential dinner we have a bottle of the Mt. Reily Chardonnay and begin with the salmon sashimi plate and steamed surf clams. We follow that with grilled sole for Lisa and rack of lamb for me. Our desert was “baked Alaska”. $215 NZ, our most expensive meal and its still only ~$110 US. We’ve done well. We chat with the manager/owner of the restaurant on our way out and get to ask a little about the presidential dinner. He shares a few funny moments and it’s off to the hotel for the two of us. Tomorrow we check out and head for the airport. Rarotonga awaits us. 1/25 Saturday Today we fly from Queenstown to Auckland and then Auckland to Raratonga. To our good fortune it is a beautiful morning and the transition of checking out, getting to the airport, turning in our rent-a-car and checking in for our flight goes smoothly. They add in a short stop over in Christchurch before heading into Auckland and Lisa muses, “Well, we can check that one off our list.” It was the one major city we did not set foot in.