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Still in Queenstown! I've had some more awesome days with friends from the bus; Sean and me racing on the luge, with Will heading up the mountain to see the whole of Queenstown from above, crazy golf, nights out, geek-sheek pub crawl, cinema, feeding the ducks, the ledge bungy, watching George, Ed and TinTin get tattoos of the Irish Harp, saving money on the gym by running and lifting rocks in the park with Will haha..cheap! But sadly one by one all my friends had to move on and leave New Zealand. I was alittle worried about this because I'd been a part of a big group for ages, I guess I hadn't tried to make friends in a while...
Immediately though I made friends with an awesome group of people. They actually all worked in Nomads and had jobs in Queenstown so they were there for quite a while. I had a really good few weeks with them, whether that was just chilling in the sun or the Lord of the Rings marathon haha, we had some great nights out, the worm with Lyndsey, karaoke, Harry Potter and loads more random things I could keep writing for ever! I really have met some brilliant people on my travels and have made some great memories I'll never forget. I love all you guys!!
Anyway, I know it's a bit random but my parents came out to see me haha! All the way from England they flew 3000 miles for 10 days! They missed me haha! I checked out of Nomads and moved into Rydges Hotel! 5 star! It's really funny because the hotel my parents are staying at is full and only a 4 star, lucky me! I checked into my room and waited until they arrived. They were driving from Christchurch which takes ages bless them...such a long flight and then a drive to Queenstown!
They knocked on my door about 10pm, I opened it and gave them both a huge hug..a hug 5 months overdue! So lovely to see them and here in probably the best country ever! We talked for a little while but both were shattered from their journey. Reluctantly we said goodnight until morning, so nice to see them again!
In the morning we met outside near the lake. Queenstown looked as beautiful as ever, the trees turning a golden, yellow, red, and orange colour below a blue sky yet again. We skimmed stones and had a catch up of everything I had done and all the things that I have missed back in the UK...Not really missed much haha!
I thought the first thing that we could do was hike up the mountain to see Queenstown from above. The walk was nice and I hadn't done it before either, always catching the gondola up to the top.. We laughed all the way up just enjoying eachothers company and when we were at the top we took in the views and then went on the Luge.
The Luge was great fun, we all had a really good time zooming down the hill as fast as we could. My Dad and me laughing as our carts were neck and neck..he still lost- I'm a practised champion on the Luge now haha!
We ate on the mountain and then caught the gondola back down to the bottom. Mum didn't want to sneak on but we persuaded her and she followed blushing bright red! We walked around the town looking in a few shops before sitting down in the park while the sun was out. Mum and me sat on the grass, Dad lay on the the bench listening to the fountain and the ducks in the pond. Was really nice to just do nothing that afternoon and have a rest in the sun. We got back to the hotel at sunset taking some great photos in the fading light, then we went out for something to eat.
The next day we took a drive to a small gold mining town not far from Queenstown. It was a cute little place with a nice community feel about it, small cottages with gardens full of flowers. The hills around the town were covered in trees all different colours in the autumn season. Pretty beautiful. We headed back to Queenstown and again just enjoyed spending time together in the sunshine, in the evening we went out for dinner at a restaurant called Flames, probably the best BBQ spare ribs in all of New Zealand!
The day after that we drove to Wanaka, there was a cool market on during the day and this was where I got my Greenstone Maori necklace; a gift from my parents. Its colour means Garment from Heaven and its shape signifies focus, strength, determination and control.. I think my Mum thought it might help me get a job in Australia haha! Still in Wanaka we went to a cinema that was recommended, it wasn't your usual cinema but had sofas, bean bags, airplane seats and even a car! It was cool! We ate there while watching the film before driving back to Queenstown. Another nice little trip and it was good to see Wanaka again.
The next day we decided to hire bicycles for the day! We had 5 hours to ride around the lake as far as we could. We cycled ALL day and I was shattered! Even so we only covered a small section of the massive lake that sits around Queenstown. We had another great day, the cycle path followed the edge of the lake going up and down along the waters edge. The houses on this side of the lake were directly in the sun, a beautiful place to live...one day maybe, you never know! We found a nice pebble beach, and a golf course- both nice places to sit and rest for a while. Like I said we only had the bikes for 5 hours so we had to get back to town and drop them off...Didn't even make a dint in the distance of the entire lake haha! Back to the park we lay in the sun, I love a good bike ride even one of an epic distance haha, reminds me of Pennington Flash...Good times!
We still have a few more days together here before we leave for Christchurch. Guess who's meeting us there?...My sister! It's a Coffey reunion! So looking forward to see her again. But until then there are still a few more things we can do.
I'll keep you posted!
Nathan
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