<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:2; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 268435456 0 0 -2147483648 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->

Wanaka-Queenstown

Sunday 10th January

Our pickup wasn't until 2.30pm so we spent the morning wandering around town and had a pie by the lake. As we were walking back to the hostel the heavens became to open so we sat in the communal kitchen/living room and did a jigsaw. Our pick up was from the Purple Cow, which was down the road. When it looked like the rain had eased we made a dash for it, we waited in the foyer of the purple cow until the magic bus came to pick us up. We got to Queenstown after 6pm and met Ali and co at Southern laughter Hostel. Queenstown is beautiful with the remarkables (cool mountains) overlooking the town and lake Wakatipu below. After we met we walked to fresh choice supermarket to buy food supplies.

Monday 11th January

Today we all went to Milford sound. It was a long drive, four hours. We had a few stops along the way. We went through a tunnel that didn't need any support as it was built through granite rock which is very strong. Gareth lost his hat on the boat because he wanted a new one. Our kid was not impressed with the 4 hour trip there and back, with less than two hours on the boat on the sound. It was nice weather on the boat but we didn't get to see any dolphins, seals or penguins.

Tuesday 12th January

Well, today was a scary day. We four girls were booked in to do a sky-dive from 12000 feet. It was like an out of body experience. We got photos and a DVD which are great. After the sky-dive we moved our bags from southern laughter to Thomas's Hotel which was cheaper, more central, en-suite and only had four in a dorm (Lyndsey flew back to Auckland today). We then got some food from hot rocks, Jen S and I got all day breakfast, Ali got wedges with sour cream and Gareth got a huge plate of Nachos with all the trimmings. After we had eaten we went back to the room and slept, watched TV and ate food before getting ready to go out for the evening. We went to Whinnies first for our happy hour prices all night, courtesy of our wrist bands off magic, we then went to Buffalo bar which was fairly quiet and then finally ended up at world bar for cocktails in teapots.

Wednesday 13th January

Yey!! We got to have a lie in! didn't get up till nearly lunch time and then Gareth and I spend around three hours washing and drying our entire wardrobe, some clothes couldn't go in the dryer so we put a washing line up in the dorm room, Alison said it was like a den. After washing Ali and I went shopping, the weather is a lot cooler in NZ than I expected it to be so I bought some warmer clothes. After clothes shopping we all went food shopping to buy lunches and dinners for the next few days. We bought bangers and mash for tonight's dinner, it was good. We were meant to be going out to world bar as they had an indie rock and roll night on, but instead we watched films, and a very long advert (10 minutes) about a gadget called 'the bullet' which is basically a mini food processor before going to sleep.

Thursday 14th January

Another lie in today, it is going to be hard to get up on Sunday to get the magic bus. We got up and made a picnic lunch. We walked to Queenstown gardens and found a bench in the sun to eat our picnic. After we had eaten we found the Frisbee Golf course. 18 holes throughout the park, through pine trees, open patches of grass, up and down hills by the side of the lake and next to ponds. It was so much fun, even though we had the worst Frisbee in history and it didn't help that we are not the best at the game either. At the last hole Alison found a yellow Frisbee which was a lot better than our green one, Gareth had a go and it ended up in a pond! He then spent the next 15 minutes making something out of a broken branch and reeds to throw into the pond and pull the Frisbee to shore, after several attempts and with me holding onto his shorts so he didn't fall in he managed to pull the Frisbee to shore. After Frisbee we wandered through town and bought some sundaes from MacDonald's then wandered to the lake and sat on the grass playing cards in the sunshine. We then went back to the hostel and watched TV for a while before cooking tasty pasta and bacon with a creamy tomato and mozzarella cheese sauce. After dinner we watched harry potter and the goblet of fire before bed.

Friday 15th January

We had another relaxed morning before getting up and making ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. We then wandered to kiwi discovery and booked our accommodation in Dunedin. Next we played a game of 18 hole mini golf, I came last and Gareth came first. It was a really fun game though and we had really nice weather. After mini golf we walked around town and Gareth bought some new warm clothes. We then headed back to the hostel and watched random TV and then strolled to hell which is a pizza place. Tonight was our big night out in Queenstown. First we went to buffalo bar for buy one get one free offers. Two vodka pineapple and two beers for $12, not bad for New Zealand. We had a dance on the small dance floor before heading over to World bar for teapots. I'm not sure why we ended up here again because the music isn't great and if you don't have any drink vouchers it is expensive. We only had a one teapot before deciding to head back to the hostel. Ali and Jen had met up with their friend Claire from Oz so they stayed and chatted for a while.

Saturday 16th January

Yet another relaxed morning. We had cheese toasties for our lunch and then went to meet Ali and Jen s in the park as it was another beautiful day. They sunbathed on the grass while we played a game of golf Frisbee, no Frisbees ended up in the pond today! We then went to and bought our luge and gondola ticket from kiwi discovery and wandered up to the gondola station at about 4pm. We got on the gondola up to the top of the hill. The views were amazing of Queenstown and the remarkables. We had 6 luge rides to use so we caught a ski lift even higher up the mountain to the start of the luge. Ali only had three rides left and Jen used lyndseys last three rides. They had been up before but had been rained off! The luge was really fun, apart form when competitive Gareth tried to overtake me and bashed into my arm. The scenic route was longer, but the advanced route had dips and tight corners which were really good. We went to whinnies for dinner, and had pizza again. It was really tasty. It was then time to go home and pack as our week in Queenstown was over and we were off on the magic bus again tomorrow.