Queenstown, Part I

The drive from Timaru to Queenstown was long, but incredibly scenic.  The town itself was even more so.  We got off to a later start than intended because SIL was still not feeling great and debating whether or not to come, but rolled into town in the early afternoon.  After dropping stuff off at the hotel we headed up to the gondola, but it was a bit rainy still so we decided to wait on it; SIL went back to the hotel to rest, and the bro and I wandered town for awhile.  We found a bar (1876, located in the old courthouse building) that actually offered happy hour prices—a rarity down here so far—had a couple pints of one of the local brews, then headed out for dinner.  The good news is, it was delicious.  The bad news is, my new favorite burger place is about 7,000 miles from home.

Fergburger came highly recommended, and with good reason: they use quality ingredients, quality buns (freshly made at the Ferg Bakery right next-door), and taste absolutely delicious.  I went with the “Mr. Big Stuff”: ½ pound of beef, cheese, “American streaky bacon” (basically the bacon we’re used to in the States), lettuce, onion, BBQ sauce & aioli piled onto the aforementioned fresh baked bun.  I had trouble finishing it but loved every minute of the process.  I didn’t really feel like I could move much afterwards so we swung by a souvenir shop and then back to the hotel.

 

The second day was full of exploration and hiking.  We initially headed out to Glenorchy, at the other end of the lake from Queenstown, but we must have missed the turnoffs for the hiking around there, so we continued further on.  We attempted to make our way to Paradise, but the road wasn’t in great condition and the bro didn’t want to rattle his car to pieces, so we turned back to try a different road.  After winding through several pastures of sheep and across a river we found ourselves at the Mount Aspiring National Park.  There are several different trails to choose from depending on your ability level and time that you have available; given that I hadn’t been hiking in quite some time and we were there to enjoy the scenery, we chose the 30-minute (estimated loop time, though I’m not sure how they calculate it) nature walk.

 

We managed to miss a turn—which would have added a couple hours to the hike—but luckily ran into some other folks that were able to give us directions back.  I wouldn’t have minded the longer walk, but we were already struggling to try to fit in as much of the area as we could in the time we had… I think you’d need at least a week to do it justice.  The landscape was amazing, the views were breathtaking, but it was also a bit odd, because there was almost nothing in the way of wildlife.  A few birds, but no mammals, and not even much in the way of bugs.  Not that I’m complaining about that last one, but still… weird.

 

To be continued….