Queenstown: EXTREME!!
We've become pretty good at picking hostels by now and Queenstown proved to be no exception. Avoiding the town centre once again (on the basis that we would also avoid the majority of the alcohol-orientated adrenalin junkies) we stayed at the YHA Lakeside, which had stunning views of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkable Mountains. It was a lovely 10 minute walk by the crystal clear water to the souvenir shops, the only downside being that the hostel seemed to be full of Americans.Queenstown itself was much prettier than we expected, possibly because we had gathered much of our information from New Zealanders; they seem to take against anything that resembles a city and by their standards Queenstown is quite large (population 15000!). We were lucky as the weather cleared once we left the glacier and we really saw the southern lakes at their best.
Our visit got off to a brilliant start with a visit to the kiwi and native bird sanctuary. Kiwis (the bird rather than the people) are awesome, although I may be biased as I am something of a ratite fan. They are nocturnal so in order for us to see them the kiwi houses were set up to be dark during the day and have the lights on at night. They can't see red so dim red lights are used to give us just enough light to see them scuffling about. They are surprisingly large and move quite fast, and spend most of their time sticking their beaks most of the way into the ground to sniff out food. We were able to see them very close up and Chris was very tolerant of me spending over half and hour just watching them walk about. Apart from the kiwis we saw several other native birds and watched a little show which emphasised protecting endangered species (pretty much every indigenous NZ species). We were also treated to another Maori performance during which we were taught the Hokey-cokey in Maori.
I think it's fair to say that Queenstown is home to one of the most ridiculous sports ever invented: frisbee golf. While exploring the Peninsular Gardens we were confused by several strange metal devices that looked to me a little like strange cattle feeders. We hung around for a bit and soon all became moderately less hazy when some men appeared carrying frisbees. The aim of the game seems to be to throw the frisbee from the 'tee' and hit the cattle feeder. If they miss they then have to move to where it feel and try from there, like golf. All sorts of people play it and those we saw were terrible. We even spotted some grungy teems heading to the park with their frisbees - who says kids these days just want to drink and do drugs?!
One of the more popular tourist activities in Queenstown is taking the gondola (cable car) up the hill over the Ben Lomond Scenic Reserve to the Skyline Centre. From the top are great views over the town and lake, and a variety of activities including bungee jumping and paragliding. In order to avoid feeling fat and lazy or having to part with more dollars we decided to walk up, which turned out to be very pretty and not much of a challenge for us seasoned trampers. This also meant we could afford to spend some money on the 'luge' track at the top - like a downhill sledging track except you ride in little carts on wheels. It was great fun and included a free ride on a chair lift with more good views.
As we were in pretty much the world centre for 'extreme' sports, in particular bungee jumping, it seemed a shame not to take up the opportunity. However after reviewing my bank account I decided that I couldn't afford to do a jump and go to Fiji so I left Chris to go off on his own for his bungee experience. He opted to do a jump over a river, in fact the site of the world's first commercial bungee jump. According to him he didn't freak out at all and just jumped straight off, dunking himself up to his waist into the river at the bottom before bouncing back up. He bought a DVD of it so we will all be able to see for ourselves when we get back. He was grinning like an idiot when he returned and described it as 'like falling really fast and getting wet'. Profound.
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