Shopping... Shopping... SHOPPING!!!

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Trip Start Feb 28, 2009 Previous
Entry Trip End Apr 12, 2009 Next
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  Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand
Sunday, April 5, 2009

We took the Crown Range Road from Wanaka to Queenstown and stopped at a lookout point along the road, which gave us a majestic view of the valley below. The road itself is said to be really bendy and difficult to drive, but we found it quite normal and timid except for the last section going downhill. Our experiences in Norway (Trollstigen specifically) might have numbed us a bit to claims of 'bendy' and 'steep' :P.

New Zealand might not have much history yet (being such a young country), but one of the more historical events in its recent past was the 'invention' of Bungy Jumping. This happened not far from Queenstown, so we figured we'd brush up a bit on our cultural history of the country and swung by there.
We went to Kawarau Bridge where AJ Hackett (the 'father of Bungy Jumping') set up his business back in 1988. You can (if you dare) still bungy jump there to this day, but we opted to WATCH a guy jump off the bridge rather than doing it ourselves ;)

01 - The Road To Queenstown

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Upon arriving in Queenstown itself we made a bee-line to the gondolas. This one was significantly steeper and went higher than the one in Rotorua, but gave just as an impressive view of the surroundings. Proving that it is not size that matters (when it comes to gondolas) ;). New Zealanders don't want to miss any opportunity to engage in some extreme sport it seems (as we once again noticed here). At the top of the gondola ride we had the option of bungy jumping, a luge ride, paragliding down the hill-side or a sky swing (look up what that is at your own peril ;)). Why can't they just enjoy the gorgeous view(s) like the rest of us sane people! :P

Most of our time in Queenstown was spent shopping. From souvenirs, to clothing, to candy (FUDGE!!!), to stuffed animals (say hello to Quinn ;)), to window shopping...
During all of this we have found that clothing store clerks here are so helpful that it is scary...
One in particular was perhaps bordering on the insane. Not only did she insist on calling ahead to stores along the rest of our travel route, she even offered to have her mother drive down (330 km) with the items we were looking for

02 - Aaaaaaaaahhh!!!

. But we couldn't take her up on that offer as her mother wouldn't be there before we'd have moved on...

We DID take a small break from shopping in order to drive up the nearby hillside where there is a deer farm that allows visitors to get up close and personal with some of the animals. The entry fee is minor and then you get to drive around a working deer farm, which in addition to deer also has animals like goats, donkeys, llamas and alpacas.
All of these animals roam freely around (some seperated from each other by a fence to prevent fighting) and graze the hillsides. Going to this area is at your own risk as a sign at the entrance told us, which sounded a bit strange with these timid herbivores.

However, as we found out, the danger really surfaces when you use one of the feeding stations to get some food to feed them with. The goats particularly are VERY keen for this food and will bump each other out of the way. And if you hold the tin with the dry food too low they will rear onto their hind legs and try to climb into the tin ;). The llamas and alpacas are much gentler and rather neat to get so close to in person.

We ended up spending quite some time there as we really enjoyed our chance to take close-up pictures of animals that we would normally not see outside a zoo enclosure. In addition to the animals, the view of Queenstown and the lake it is situated at was equally impressive, leaving us with a ton of pictures to go through afterwards :).

On the last day we took a small boat cruise on the lake with the TSS Earnslaw, which took us across the lake and back. The boat docked on the opposite side of the lake at a farm where they were starting up the barbeque, but because the weather had taken a turn for the worse, we decided not to get off the boat at all. We didn't feel like BBQing in the rain ;). Instead we went right back to the centre of Queenstown and shopped some more ;).

End result: Queenstown was the most relaxing AND most expensive part of the holiday so far ;)
And we thoroughly enjoyed it all :D

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

03 - Surveying Queenstown	04 - Soon There Will Be Snow...	05 - Don't Try To Hug Him	06 - Why Are There 2 L's In Llama?
07 - Deer Park Heights	08 - King(s) Of The Hill	09 - Aren't I Cute???	10 - A Very Stately Pose
11 - Roads, Rivers... Everything Is Bendy	12 - We Wonder If He Has A Lisp ;)	13 - Alpaca, An Alternative To Sheep	14 - It's Not Rudolph
15 - Meet The Family	16 - Colourful!!!

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