Feb 18 – One of the few things Brent asked to do in New Zealand in advance was the luge run in Queenstown. To make sure we he wasn’t disappointed we headed start there our first day. It was a perfect weather day – sunny and moderate temperatures. We got the 6 luge run option and had a BLAST. It was so fun. Brent reckons we got up to speeds well over 50km/h at times. The run is a about 1600 metres long, and took about 2 minutes to ride down. Banking corners, sudden drops and narrow passages under the other track made the side-by-side racing events very exciting. Not all the tires were on the ground at some points.
In addition to some excellent racing, the paragliders were launching from the top of the hill above Queenstown. Brent is not brave enough for that – but would love to try gliding – maybe from Dunedin.
After using all of our runs (despite Brent trying to convince the ticket checker to ‘forget’ to cross off our numbers) we headed back to town to check out the waterfront area. Brent made some pushy new friends.
When the food was all doled out we continued on to the botanical gardens and had a very nice walk around. The roses were spectacular! Some of the trees in an around town and in the park are enormous too.
Bron was keen to go up Queenstown Hill (500m elevation gain), and Brent was far too sensible to be interested. Bron got dropped off to walk up the hill and Brent amused himself with some exciting grocery shopping at Countdown. The walk was actually really nice – ever upwards through a mature forest. There’s some art at a lower lookout and a great view of the lake and surrounds from the hill peak.
Feb 19 – Only about 15 minutes from our AirBnB was Arrowtown. Home to historic buildings from a Chinese gold mining camp in the mid 1800’s, We had a look around, a tasty coffee, and then a walk into Sawpit Gully. The history was good and the walk was excellent. There were great examples of folding and good views. The geology was the schistiest!
Feb 20 – Brent was eager to do some horse riding and Bron was more interested in climbing another hill. Luckily both activities were in the direction of Wanaka.
[Bron] The Department of Conservation website has a page of ‘Great Day Walks’. The list is only 3 hikes long currently. We’ve already done 2 of them – Tongariro Crossing (in 2014) and Hooker Valley (last week). The 3rd is Roy’s Peak, an easy stroll of 16km with 1200m elevation gain. As it was a bit of a drive from Queenstown I wasn’t on the trail until about 10:30am. I wanted to love this hike. I knew what to expect in advance, but it’s literally just endless switchbacks up a dusty 4×4 track on the side of the hill. The views were admittedly great, but the way up left a bit to be desired. At any rate I got a good workout! The other problem is because it’s one of the ‘Great day walks’ it’s BUSY. In fact, while having lunch I watched people waiting in a 20 person deep line to take their instagram photos at ‘The Ledge’. I get it – it’s spectacular – but also totally ridiculous. I didn’t wait in the line, took my photos from a distance, and headed back down in the heat and the dust.
[Brent] After dropping Bron off at the base of the mountain, I headed off to the Wanaka Airport. There was a static display of old military aircraft and tanks. I wondered around for a bit but didn’t see the point in paying admission to see a CF-101. They are on display in many Canadian cities. I headed of to the Cardrona Valley after a bite of lunch. Arriving at the horse riding stable, I was pleased to hear that we would depart as soon as I signed the insurance waiver forms. Everyone else on the tour had arrived early as well, and we might as well mount up and go. I was introduced to my partner for the afternoon Calypo – an Appaloosa. She is nicknamed the Ginger Princess, I was told, as she tip-toes through the muddy spots. She did go very lightly into the wet locations, between short sections of trot and canter. I do not have the rhythm yet for riding. I guess that comes with much more practice. By the time we trotted for the fifth time, I thought I had it. “Be up out of the saddle when the horses’ front left comes forward”, I was told. Sounds easy. Not so easy in application. Feeling beaten up a bit, but not bruised, I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon riding. We climbed up the flanks of the Cardrona Valley for a great view. After my ride, I returned to Wanaka to met Bron, who had only just finished with her hike.
Feb 21 – It was time for a rest day so we picked doing the scenic drive to Glenorchy. It’s a great road winding along the lake shore with excellent views and exciting curves. We’d expected it to be really busy from what we’ve heard, but surprisingly it was actually quite quiet. In Glenorchy we had a nice lunch (Best veggie sandwich ever for Bron – it had every vegetable in it. Zucchini, carrot, avocado, mushroom, peppers, cucumber, yam, beet, lettuce, red cabbage, onion, red onion, green cabbage, and many many more! Name a veggie – it was probably in there). After lunch we walked the town trail. It was flat and easy so qualified for ‘rest day’.
On the way back we stopped at Bob’s Cove (easy to remember as it was the AirBnB dog’s name) for a look around. There are several good looking trails from there, but we didn’t have enough time and they didn’t qualify for rest day so we’ll have to come back another time. The lake view was nice as well though.
Feb 22 – As our last Queenstown activity we had a soak in the Onsen just down the road from our accommodation. A perfect way to round out our very fun (and active) stay. It wasn’t really anything like an actual Japanese onsen – which we experienced a few times in Japan, but we liked this a lot too. They have about 16 private tubs which overlook the river. I can see this being extremely popular during ski season!
The time in Queenstown went by all too quickly and we had to get on the road to our next stop in Te Anau.
Brent And Bron Abroad 