Feb 19, 2017
On Sunday morning, we woke up sore from our amazing hike to Rob Roy. We packed our bags and left Wanaka for Queentown. We had planned to try and make it to church there, but we slept in, so that plan was out.
It was about an hours drive from Wanaka and we stopped off at a fruit stand on the way. We found some new and interesting fruits to try:
A yellow plum:
And a Green Gage: It is in the plum family. It was good.
Next stop was a famous bungee jumping place called AJ Hackett located on the famous Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge
We stopped by to watch them jump and because Savannah wanted to try bungee jumping. Brady was all for letting her but I was not going along. Luckily for me, she was about 4 pounds too small..
Here's a video of someone else jumping... they even hit the water.
Had to have a bathroom stop while there.... When I went to find them I was shocked at the sign and at first thought, "Wow, that seems rude to have a handicap person falling out of their chair as the sign", then I realized they were bungee jumping and saw it on all the signs too. We were laughing!
On to Queenstown
Here's some info about Queenstown:
Queenstown, New Zealand, sits on the shores of the South Island’s Lake Wakatipu, set against the dramatic Southern Alps. Renowned for adventure sports, it’s also a base for exploring the region’s vineyards and historic mining towns. There's bungee jumping off Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge and jet-boating on the Shotover and Dart rivers. In winter, there's skiing on the slopes of The Remarkables and Coronet Peak.
It's very much a touristy town with lots of things to do and you can burn through LOTS of money while there.
First up: FIND GELATO!!
Brady told them after hiking RR trail that he owed them a full sized gelato and he needed to pay up. We were on the hunt for a good one.
As you can see in this picture, Ava is getting impatient waiting for Gelato :)
It was worth the wait!! Found a good one!
Then we found a fun candy shop. We busted out laughing at this fudge flavor and of course had to buy it. The little candies on top were called Farts. Who names a candy that?? And, they were in the "American" candy shelf. Never seen that candy in America. They just don't want to claim such a stupidly named candy so they blame us... after all, we elected a bag of hot air as a president, why not eat farts America.
Then we found our hotel. This is our view from the tiny balcony. We were at the Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park. These types of "hotel-parks" are popular here. There are a few rooms, but mostly its camping sites for tents or "camper-vans" Some camper-vans are literally that, van decked out as campers (I say decked, but you may assume fancy from that word, but they were anything but fancy- think total hippy style) and then there were motor home style camper-vans.
We had to hike up a lot of stairs to get to our hotel from the downtown area. Our legs were burning after our uphill hike yesterday.
Then if was further up the hill to the Gondola ride. We rode up to the top of the mountain and then further up on a ski-lift to ride the luge.
Lots of people take their bikes up on the Gondola and then ride them down the mountain.
Me and Alyssa and Ava got the "Star" gondola
These three just got a plain one. We thought we were special!!
Look at that great view of the lake from the gondola.
We walked around the overlook and took some great pictures:
Then we headed off to the ski lift up to the luge. I really hate these ski lift things. I always feel like I am going to fall off. And having a small kid on there with me make me 10 times for nervous.
Me, holding on for dear life!!!!
Brady is a lot more relaxed getting a picture of him and Ava enjoying the ride.
We got to ride the track twice. After the first run, Ava wanted to ride with Dad so they did doubled up. First we rode the slower track for practice, then a faster track. Alyssa, because of her age and size, was supposed to ride the slower track both times but got pushed onto the faster one. She nearly bit the dust on the first turn and I thought we'd be heading for the hospital by the time we got to the bottom. Luckily, the first turn was her only problem.
Seriously to BRIGHT Dad....
Good times!!
We headed back down to the town to find some dinner. Dad is always finding us some kind of Asian/Chinese place. This one was called the "Noodle Canteen" it was good. Although, Ava always asks for chicken and fries ;)
It was at this point when Kayla realized she had left her camera on the gondola on the way back down. Oh the DRAMA. I was so sad for her. Brady took her back to the gondola and they let them ride back to the top (without paying, which was very nice since it was kind of pricey the first time). They are gone about 2 hours. We watched for them out the balcony. When we finally saw them coming and saw Kayla still upset, we knew it wasn't good. Lots of tears that night. So hard to loose a camera because it's not just the camera itself, but all the memories on it that matter. She was so upset and I was so sad for her too. There were lots of prayers said that evening. Brady had given them his phone number in case it turned up before we left town the next afternoon.
After a bad's night sleep for both Kayla and I, we went about our morning. We had to get up early to get packed up and out the door for our Shotover Jet Boat ride. We tried to put the camera out of our mind and focus on enjoying this moment, since it was one we had been planning since long before our trip. Brady had rode this same Shotover jet several years ago and it was the first thing on our must do list while we were here.
Our Shotover Jet boat ride in the next post..... but to finish off this story, they called us just as we were leaving the jet boat ride that they had the camera. Phew!! We were so excited, thankful and relieved that it had been found and turned in. What a blessing!! Again, many prayers said in thanks for it's return.
So, back into town for the camera and some lunch. They voted for Noodle Canteen again (expect Ava, she voted for chicken and fries and scoffed at their choice of food)
Queenstown was a success...
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