The road to recovery... literally
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2007
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50
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Trip End
Jan 11, 2009
Dunedin,
New Zealand
Saturday, March 1, 2008
We were happy to leave the town behind to board the bus to Queenstown. We saw some amazing scenery on the way- lots of mountains and incredibly blue lakes. I also had possibly the best iced coffee EVER at our lunch stop. (Those sorts of things make me happy!) It was just after 3pm by the time we had dragged all our luggage to the Lakefront YHA- about a 15-20 minute walk but it seems so silly to get a taxi for a 5 minute ride! Our room was quite small but we were one of only 2 rooms (so it appeared) with our own balcony, with stunning lake views. The trade-off you have to make, I guess!
It was just a relaxed day, we were all still quite sore and tired, so the evening (as a family) consisted of (me) figuring out a new travel strategy for the remaining week and a bit. 10ish, I headed into town to meet up with Jay and Kathleen (and here sister &brother-in-law) who had also arrived in town that day, for a few beers and a catch up. Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a Fergburger as our midnight snack. Let me just say, AMAZING! I'd been recommended this by another traveler and I was not disappointed. If you are ever in Queenstown... GO! It began lashing rain just in time for us to leave the pub, and for me to make the slog back to the hostel.
The next day, our free day in Q-town, we had a bit of a lay-in, and then decided to go for the afternoon trip on the TSS Earnslaw, a historical steamboat.
inside the brewery
It was about a 40-minute ride, when we got off to spend a few hours at the Walter Peak High Country Farm. I was the youngest by far (aside from a family with a few toddlers), but I actually really enjoyed it! First we got to hand feed some farm animals (fun at any age!) including lamb, sheep, deer, and cattle. (I mostly stuck with the sheep!). Then we had afternoon tea, very classy, before watching a sheep-dog performance and a sheep shearing. Once we arrived back in Qtown, Mom & Dad got Fergburgers. I just stuck with chips- still full from the night before! Then we headed up to the Skyline Gondola, where we took the steep ride up. We were about halfway when it starting pouring (again!) and it didn't clear up, until we had waited for ages at the top, deciding there was no point waiting any longer, deciding there was no point waiting half hour for a taxi, and were halfway back. With all that rain, that was it for the night.It was up EARLY the next day, as we decided to spend two nights in Te Anau and to just do the Milford day trip from there to shave about 6 hours in the day off the trip. Due to it being last-minute, the only place available was actually Te Anau Downs, which is basically accommodation and that's it.
We did the BBQ bus tour the next day, which was really excellent. It's a smaller bus, and you stop for a BBQ lunch (shocking, I know!) before you even get to Milford, which means the boat is less crowded. The weather was pretty crappy for the cruise, but that meant there were a lot of waterfalls down the mountains which wouldn't be there if it had been dry.
Speight's
We also saw NZ fur seals and a few dolphins as well! That was pretty cool.On Wednesday, we had to get a cab in order to get to Te Anau in time for an 8am bus which would take us to Dunedin. We are at the Stafford Gables YHA, which is a really old building which used to be a hospital- it's so cool! We again have our own little balcony, but it's been too chilly to enjoy! Yesterday we did both the Cadbury World tour, as well as the Speight's Brewery tour. The chocolate one was quite disappointing, the show you clips of everything because "we can't actually take you in there" and you only get to see a few things going on. A few chocolate samples, but you're better off getting them on sale at the supermarket! The Speight's one was just fantastic though. The beer "appreciation" at the end didn't hurt, either!
Today we bought a pass for the hop on/off city explorer bus, getting off at the Olveston house, checking out Baldwin St (steepest in the world! But didn't walk up it), and the botanical gardens which we gorgeous. Olveston House is basically this really lush house, which is pretty well the same as it was when the last remaining Theomin family member died and bequeathed it to the city. It's cool because a lot of the stuff is 100 years old, and it's literally how it was when the family lived there. I'm not going to lie; I think that kind of stuff is pretty cool! Also a restaurant recommendation: Etrusco at the Savoy.
Tomorrow we had back to Christchurch for our final two nights together, before I make my way back up to Picton to begin the Kiwi tour!
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P.S. I'll also be working at adding photos (slowly, it appears!) so keep giving the past entries a look. (this one too)
