Christmas Special

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  Queenstown, New Zealand
Thursday, January 10, 2008

So, snoring aside we had a fantastic stay in Queenstown.  We arrived Christmas Eve and arranged to meet some folks in the Red Rock Bar and then moved on to the World Bar where you can have shots served from teapots,  very nice.  Christmas morning was just as beautiful a day, we sat outside our hostel, the Lake Front YHA beside the water to exchange a few prezzies.  We then returned to the World Bar to meet up with our group for Xmas lunch which was great.  Shortly after that a Maori Group came to give a performance including the famous Haka which is actually quite scary to be standing in front of. They then generally muck around and get people up on stage to act stuff out and chant with them, It was a laugh.  Father Christmas also came down, we sat on his knee, had your pic taken and was given a prezzie. The World Bar really did look after all the backpackers, the day was billed as the Orphans Christmas Party, it was really nicely done.   We finished the night off with the two of us in a nearby cosy restaurant in the evening, a great Christmas to remember.

We spent the next week hanging out in Queenstown which is one of the most beautiful places we have have been too. The bay is surrounded by pine covered, massively desolate and snow capped mountains. It is so picturesque you just keep wanting to take pictures of it.   There's a nice little harbor, home to the steam boat which you see a few times a day sailing on by.  The town itself can be walked around in ten minutes but having said that, is the most compact place I've ever seen. Besides all the shops there are countless bars, clubs and restaurants, too many to get to all of them.   There is a great atmosphere about the place too as most people there are on holiday and workers alike seem just as happy to be there. It is not a surprise when you wake up each morning to see views like that.

We were lucky enough to take another gondola ride up a mountain behind the town where the view must be among the most spectacular in the world. You can also do the Luge up there, which we did and loved, again. Apparently there is only 4 places in the world you can do the luge riding, here, Rotorua in the North Island, Singapore and one in Canada.

Back in the town we even tried one of the many dangerous sports it has to offer, yes, Mini Golf at Caddy Shack City. This was absolutely brilliant fun, it has taken mini golf to a hole new level.  One hole is an airport, another a downtown of a city, a ski resort, a mine, the list is endless....well up to 18 anyway.

The Christmas week also included the most amazing scenery of the whole holiday so far when we took a day trip to Milford Sound with Kiwi Discovery.  It is only actually about 60km away but because of the mountains takes 4 hours passing near to Invercargill, the most southern city in the world. However the journey there was the best part, our driver Les was brilliant with incredibly informative commentary, we learned more about New Zealand that morning than we had in the past 6 weeks. It was pouring with rain but Les told us this the best way to see this area.  One of the stops we made approaching the mountains we all filled our water bottles from a stream which tasted superb. Les said drinking that stuff will make you feel young again, you'll look great, he was spot on actually, I felt a heady rush back to my late 20's almost immediately.  The best part was once we hit the mountains we reached a huge natural dead end basin, before we entered the tunnel we got out and saw at least fifty waterfalls cascading down all around us. No one on the coach had seen anything like this.  The same continued on the other side of the tunnel, the rain had produced breathtaking scenery more awe inspiring than you could have expected which is saying something for this country.

Once we reached the Sound, we boarded the boat which cruises down the fiord. Here we see more waterfalls appearing to come from the sky as due to the mist you could not see the tops of the mountains.  This is a very remote and special place.

To pretty much finish off our time in Queenstown on New Years Eve the brilliant sunshine returned and we checked into the YHA Central. Our room was right in town with a view over the harbor, perfect.  We spent the night at Dux De Lux, a good clientele with a great D.J, popping out briefly to catch the fire works over the water (that's us, not the D.J)

After spending New Year's day wandering through the tranquil Queenstown Gardens we were sad to leave the finest town we have been to on these constantly amazing islands.

Will.

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