Queenstown

Reaching Queenstown in the evening sunshine we checked into the Oaks Shores Resort (a bit of a treat as it was a fair bit more expensive than our usual budget allows - but we had managed to get a reduced price of almost half the list price). The one bedroom apartment we had booked was amazing. A stylish pad with modern furniture, heated floors, an open fire and flatscreen TV's - but the best thing was the views (PICS). From our balcony we could see across Lake Wakatipu to the Remarkables Mountains, a picturesque and serene view that we could have stared at for hours.

001 Oaks Shores Apartment Living Area

In an effort to have something to open on Christmas day we popped to a nearby superstore and bought a few cut price cd's and dvd's and some wrapping paper so we could rip it apart and find the presents we already knew we had!

002 Oaks Shores Apartment Living Room

Wandering around the centre of Queenstown we were surprised at how small it was, we could also picture it as a winter, alpine style resort. The style of the buildings seemed far more suited to the colder, snow-covered months. Nevertheless it is a pretty little town, beautifully set amongst the mountains and alongside the lake.

As Christmas Day dawned...we slept! As Christmas Day reached 10am, that's when we awoke. We had breakfast and opened our presents from underneath the trees (PIC) and spent the rest of the morning watching the Muppets Christmas Carol - an annual tradition in the Taylor household which we were able to uphold as they were showing it on the local station.

Our Christmas lunch was at the Oaks restaurant and it immediately started on the wrong foot as after one photograph (PIC) our camera decided to freeze up and break completely! The food was pretty good but nothing remotely like a stereotypical Christmas Dinner; Curry Cappuccino, Prawns, Beef and a cheese board being among the courses. The crackers were also pretty naff - just check out the jokes!

003 Oaks Shores Apartment Dining Room

· Q: What's white, round and lifts weights? A: An extra strong mint

· Q: What two words have the most letters? A: Post Office

· Q: Have you heard about the footballer who only came out at night? A: He was the star player

· Q: What's the largest species of mouse in the world? A: A Hippo pota mouse

· Q: Why do octopuses never get mugged? A: Because they are always well armed

· Q: Why did the boy throw his wristwatch out of the window during his history exam? A: He wanted to make time fly

Our Boxing Day was spent looking for a new camera. We were supposed to be doing the 'fly-by-wire' ride but with no camera we would have been forced to buy the ones they take of you and charge a fortune in the process! We rescheduled the ride for the following day and set about finding a replacement camera. We would have bought an identical replacement - had our model not been discontinued - but instead found ourselves having to compromise to get anything as good.

004 Oaks Shores Apartment Kitchen

In the end we managed to get a great price (saving over $300) on a 10 Megapixel Canon Powershot A640. It is probably a bit better than our last camera, apart from the fact that it is also a fair bit larger - and doesn't really tuck away into one of Andrews pockets.

Delayed by a day we eventually embarked on our Fly-by-wire ride. There were just 4 of us on the trip up the mountain to the canyon where we would be 'flying'. After donning our flight suits (PICS) and picking up our aliases (Verdi was IceMan and Andrew was Goose! - Both characters from Top Gun) we took turns to board the flying machine. The contraption is hoisted to around 75m in the air at which point the control is surrendered to you. You fire up the engine to full throttle and release the hoist. Dropping down the canyon at speeds of up to 170 km/h you can then steer the 'plane' up and down like a pendulum or round in circles - the journey lasts 5 minutes.

005 Oaks Shores Apartment Bedroom

The ride itself was not scary as such but was great fun. We both took to the steering system quickly, unlike the other two riders who both ended up flying backwards at one point and slowing right down as a result. As we finished, the resident goat, named 'Oy' was there to welcome us back down to earth (PIC).

006 View from Apartment

007 View from Apartment at evening

008 Verdi in apartment

009 Christmas Prezzies

010 Andrew at Christmas lunch

011 Panoramic (new camera)

012 Verdi AKA Ice Man

013 Verdi getting ready to fly

014 Verdi Fly By Wire

015 Verdi Fly By Wire

016 Verdi Fly By Wire

017 Verdi Fly By video

018 Andrew AKA Goose

019 Andrew getting ready to fly

020 Grinny Grinison

021 Andrew Fly By Wire

022 Andrew Fly By Wire

023 Andrew Fly By Wire

024 Andrew Fly By video

025 Oy the Goat