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From 11th to 14th July we spent in Queenstown. This is the most expensive place to stay or live in New Zealand. This is a tourist town on steroids and doesn’t have an off-season. The only difference is that in the Winter there is the skiing and snow boarding. But all year there is the Bungy jumping, para gliding, zip lines, jet boats in the canyon, bush walking, kayaking, white water rafting and the gondola to the top of Bobs Peak....then ride the luge. Not wanting to detach my retina’s I didn’t bungy jump and settled for what I considered the most sedentary of all activities which was the jet boat, the gondola and 5 rides on the luge. It rained on the day we did those activities which was ok other than you got a wet arse when sitting in the luge carts. Getting to the top of Bobs Peak required a ride in the gondola which for a couple in our party was a bit scary. It goes up at such an acute angle and takes you 450 metres above the town. Once there you get to the top there are 220 degree views of Queenstown. The big kid in me enjoyed the rides in the luge carts down winding tracks. As the carts sit less than 10 cm from the ground, once the ride is over, to get out I had to roll sideways onto my hands and push off from the ground. Not very dignified rolling around on the wet luge track and risk getting my fingers run over by other patrons. I’m sure I heard little kiddies laughing at the old man with the poor central core strength. The jet boat gave my back a workout as it weaved within cms of rocks and did 360 degree spins at speed. Unlike the luge I only had to step in and out of the boat and had a handrail to hang onto. All in all those activities accounted for a couple of hours and managed to lighten my wallet a bit....but was sufficient excitement for one day.
On the 13th July we took it down a notch in search of something quieter than the Adrenaline fuelled Queenstown. This was a 20 minute drive to Arrowtown which is an old gold mining town that has retained its heritage look. There is a section dedicated to the Chinese gold miners. Back in the day the Chinese miners were segregated from the European community, and remained so even into the early 1900’s (not much different to Australia). When the gold ran out many stayed on as market gardeners.
Apparently if you are in Queenstown you have to eat at Fergburger. This is a hamburger joint that stays open from 8am up until 5am the next morning. It just closes for the 3 hours so everything can be cleaned ready for the 8am opening. No matter what time of day there is a line up. It is quite a small shop and around the lunch or dinner time rush the line up goes down the street and around the corner. The staff are going up the line with menus and giving an update on time for the time from taking your order until your burger is ready to collect. So it is nothing to wait 15 - 20mins to order then a further 60-70 mins before its ready, and you stand out on the street waiting for your number to come up on the screen. Despite the waiting times, the line just gets longer and no one seems to mind. We went outside the rush and still waited close to 40 mins (10 mins to place the order and 30 mins for it to be cooked). Despite all the hype, I have to say it is a delicious burger. Apparently when Ed Sheeran played in Dunedin he requested Fergburger fly down from Queenstown to cook him some of their famous burgers. The Fergburger name was so popular, next door they have Fergbaker (pies, bread and pastries)and MrsFerg Gelateris for ice cream and gelato (wait times for those Ferg’s are not as long)
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