Queenstown, Otago

I was quite sad to leave Wanaka, it was somewhere that I had quickly fallen in love with, with its grand lake, quaint shops and cafes and generally relaxed atmosphere. I would love to return again in the winter to stay at the amazing bach and snowboard.

We drove through central Otago around Alexandra and Cromwell. It was so beautiful. We stopped off a family run vineyard for a bit of wine tasting with dad and bought a bottle for later. Cannot remember the name of it however, which is annoying as the wine was rather nice.

Around Central Otago

After stopping off at a little winery/cafe for morning tea, we were on the road to Queenstown. Along the way we saw signs for another one of AJ Hackett’s Bungy’s: The Kawarau Bridge Bungy. This was the original Bungy in New Zealand. It is followed by the Nevis, Ledge and Auckland Bridge Bungy’s. We stood for a ten minutes and watched a number of people jump off. I was so tempted, but in the bridge bungy you are only attached by your feet, and without a chest harness, you therefore swing a lot more, and this worried me with my back and only having a little bit of flexible spine left. To be honest I shouldn’t really have done the Auckland Bridge Bungy,  but I survived. I am still tempted to do the big one in QT – the Nevis!

Some crazy cat after jumping off the bridge



AJ Hackett love to shake out every bit of cash you have, though it is a tempting offer.

We finally got to Queenstown and checked into the Rydges Hotel. Normally I am not a big hotel person, but I got a great deal on a family room. Mostly all the rooms face out into the Lake, our room did, but we had a tree in the way. Still, it felt like a bit of luxury for the end of our trip with dad.

View from our room

Our first mission after checking in and unpacking, we headed into town for lunch. No questions were asked about were we are going to eat – FERGBURGER! My dad and mum tried the burgers last year when they were in Queenstown, but my sister Sharron had not. The place as always was packed, but we managed to secure a table and only waited 10 minutes to get our food.

I’ve said it before, but fergburger is seriously more food than any one person ever needs in one sitting, and like Subway, there is just no polite way of eating. It was such a hot afternoon, about 27 degrees, I thought I was going to melt.

A busy day at Fergburger

Lunch: Fergburger, chips and cider.

After our epic lunch, we took a quick walk up the hill towards the Gondola, it felt like a bit of a mission, despite the fact I’ve walked the entire track before, twice. We jumped on the Gondola and headed to the top of the station. I’ve done this trip 3 times before and love it. I love watching Queenstown getting smaller and further away and then seeing the grandness of the Lake at the top.

After taking countless photographs at the top, we headed over to the Luge. This was the first time I’ve done the Luge in Queenstown. I did the Luge in Rotorua in 2011 with my family and loved it.

I attempted to get a video going down the Luge, it wasn’t too successful. I should maybe get a camera that clips on securely to somewhere.



Sharron and I with our flattering helmets

The reminder of our day was spent wandering around Queenstown Mall, picking up some more Christmas presents. We spent time by the lake, which is amazing just as the sun is going down.

Our second day in Queenstown, (and last full day with dad 🙁 ) was spent doing very little. Sharron wasn’t feeling too well, and did not sleep at all due to a sore throat. We had a breakfast at the hotel, which we opted to pay extra for, but wish we didn’t. It wasn’t very appealing at all, the eggs were sloppy and nothing tasted too good, which is a shame for a good hotel.

Sharron stayed around the hotel during the morning whilst dad and I spent time in town. I managed to pick up a nice chopping board made out of New Zealand Rimu wood for my mum (it was a present on her Christmas list). There was a little market area in town by the lake, which I have not seen before, it was really nice, with lots of cute homemade crafts and artwork. I could have bought a lot more.

Today was also the 21st December – the day that some dude somewhere predicted the end of the world, which obviously didn’t happen, but I guess it gave a lot of people something to talk about.

Outside Michael Hill

Sharron joined us in the afternoon, and we headed off to Arrowtown, which is a 20 minute drive away, and a gorgeous quaint old town, we had a walk around, found a sign called Ulster Place (photo below), and had ice cream in a homemade icecream cafe.

Ulster Place, Arrowtown (note: this is not an actual street)

This was stuck on the wall of a local shop in Arrowtown, Made me a wee bit homesick.

In the evening, Sharron and I had booked a table for dinner to treat dad, as he had treated us well over the past week. We booked a table at a place called the Captains Table, as this is were I had been for lunch during my trip to QT in October. What I didn’t realise was that this was a fish restaurant (it is kind of in the name!) Both Sharron and I do not like fish, but we managed to get a meal of chicken modified without the fish in it, so we were happy.

After our meal, we wandered down to the Lake, were a Canadian Comedian/Street performer was holding a show. He was pretty good, and even used my dad as a helper.

A Canadian Magican/Comedian

All dressed up for our last night.

After this, Sharron and I returned to the hotel to spend time wrapped up in the hotel bar (the temperature had really dropped in the evening). We were both quite tired, so headed off to bed, whilst dad headed off to the local Irish Bar himself until 1am (mid life crisis?)

In the morning, after checking out of the hotel, we went to the Post Office Cafe for breakfast, were I had been before, it had yummy breakfasts. We then headed a little out of Queenstown to go to the hot pools. The company was called Onsen, which apparently is Asian for Hot Spring. It was AMAZING, and I totally recommend it. It cost about $30 each for the 1 hour in our own private pool, we had drinks and chocolate brought down and were very relaxed afterwards. This is something I’d totally love to do in winter after a day on the mountain. The backdrop was incredible.

After our hot pools experience, we grabbed some lunch and headed out to the airport, a journey I didn’t want to make, as I knew it wouldn’t be too long until I had to say goodbye to my dad.

We got to Auckland around 6pm, and my sister and I delayed it until 8pm to leave to drive up to the Bay of Islands. There were a lot of tears as I said goodbye to dad.

His short trip to New Zealand unsettled me more than I thought it would, and probably more than I would openly admit often.

I had an amazing time with him here, and enjoyed sharing simple family moments again.