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My pants or your pants? - The hilarities of disparities in English across the globe
Queenstown is my favourite place on the entire earth. It is beautiful, it's friendly, it's lively, it's got a million things to do. And it's clean! Though it IS full of Australians. And a few Brits. But I'm not complaining! :D
We arrived on Wednesday early afternoon and checked into Reaver's Lodge, (Room 13!) Which was part of the way up the hill/mountain. (Steeper than b**** Hill!)
But it was awesome, cus we had a 2-bunkbed room all to ourselves for all 4 nights, which would have cost us around a hundred dollars more overall. So we dumped our stuff and then decided to wander around town for a bit, see the sights. It's a really lovely little town on the shore of Lake Wakatipu, with the mountain ranges surrounding the lake.
One of the most noticeable mountains are The Remarkables, the only range in the world apart from the Rockies that line from North to South exactly. They really are remarkable!
On Wednesday night we decided to go out for the pizza/drinks night that the Lodge had arranged in town and had a chance to talk to other people staying at the lodge. We sat down at a table with five guys. All from Australia. So we talked to them for a bit, there were three of them travelling together who were really lovely (Hugh, Matt and Joey). So anyway, the other two went to another bar, and two more Australians sat down, then another one, then Hugh Matt and Joey left, and two more Australians sat down. We were inundated with Australians! Crazy! So we came home about half 11, and realised that Joey, Matt and Hugh were our nieghbours! So we played Rummy with them until we decided we needed to go to bed!
We got up early the next morning to get the coach up to Coronet Peak where we had booked two beginners' lessons! It was absolutely beautiful up there. (As everywhere in the South Island) Our instructor was Pete, and he was from Ireland. So obviously Sarah was smitten :D Hehehe! But anyway, he was very lovely, and managed not to fall over when I skiied straight into him!
I really do love skiing, I haven't been before, but MAN it is fun! Even falling over has its charms! I'm definitely going to do some more! Winter Olympic Saloms, here I come!!
After we came back to the Lodge, we decided to go on the pub crawl that had been organised for that night. We all got a free shot at every bar we went to, and discount on drinks. At the second/third bar, we each got given a number on our wristbands on the way in. And then later, the people in charge were like OKAY! Find your number partner, and first couple to the bar wins! Chances were, that I was standing talking to a guy how had my number! So he dragged me to the bar, crushing many people in our path (including me) and succeeded in getting a free drink out of it!
At this bar, was also the first time in a while where I've really felt short! So many tall people towering! Towering above me! In New Zealand, they don't seem to mind that much what you wear out either, I had jeans, trainers and a tank top on, and nada! Nothing was said! It was crazy. So relaxed here, it's ace!
So then we went onto more bars, pubs and clubs and it was just a really good night. Lots of dancing, lots of meeting new people, lots of laughing at other people being idiots. And did I mention the Dancing!! :D
So we went back to the Lodge we talked to Daniel and Alan for a couple of hours which was hilarious. So then when we went to bed, we were just about to go to sleep and Joey knocked on our door and came in. So we talked to him for a while, but then he was so drunk he just fell asleep sitting up. So after many tryings and failings to get him back next door, he went to sleep on the floor. But then he got up after about an hour and got in Sarah's bed. Much to our amusement. And as he wouldn't wake up, Sarah slept in a different bed! So that was quite hilarious, as he didn't really remember much the day after!
Friday morning, (after not much sleep) we got the coach at 7.40 to Milford Sound, which meant driving through the most amazing scenery I've ever seen in my life. The coach had a glass roof so you could see out the top, and had extra leg room. It was a 4hr trip (with a few stops) to the cruise at Milford Sound, Fiordland, (West Coast) but on the way we stopped at the Mirror Lakes, which was BEAUTIFUL; went through the forest where they filmed some of the hobbit scenes, and went through Homer Tunnel, which was below Homer's Saddle and next to Mount Christina! We saw some Keas which are probably the most intelligent birds!
We met this girl Laura on the coach who's originally from Cornwall, and now works in Auckland, but was travelling around the country for a while and was doing amazing things like rafting and skydives and bungee jumping which I would have loved to have done! (But I only so much time and money) and there was another guy Philip from Switzerland who was travelling alone and lovely as well!
We all stayed on the top of the boat for the entire 1 and a half hours, and saw SO many waterfalls!! It made me so happy :D and we saw some seals, the Tasman Sea, so many gorgeous views. They're considering it as the 8th Wonder of the World. Which it DEFINITELY could be. But BOY it was cold outside!!!
The journey back was fairly uneventful, but I bought some Manuka Honey Lip Balm, for my windburnt lips! Manuka Honey is a natural antibiotic that they use for all sorts of remedies for things. Even the hospitals use it.
Manuka Trees are amazing, but they can smell So different, they can smell like lavender, lemons, even Hubba Bubba!!
When we got back to the Lodge, at 7.30, we were pretty tired, so we played Rummy again for a while with the boys, but were in bed at about 9.00! The lodge had arranged for ice skating that night, so it was a shame we got back too late to go!
Saturday morning, we took our time getting up, and then went up the gondolas (not the Venetian type) to view Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, The Remarkables, Coronet Peak, and all the other mountains. Up there we saw yet more rainbows, and it was a truly spectacular view of the landscape around Queenstown.
We then headed into town for a last walkaround in the daytime and went to The Station to get picked up for our horseriding afternoon!
We went to Dart Stables, which is in Glenorchy (West of Queenstown). On the way we saw where they filmed the bit where Eomer arrives with all the Rohirrim in the Helm's Deep sequence in LOTR, and stopped for a spectacular view of Lake Wakatipu and 'The Misty Mountains'.
We had booked ourselves onto 'The Ride of the Rings' tour, which took place in an area called Paradise. The man who last bought this area found out he had terminal cancer, so set up a trust where his 8 friends signed a 99 year contract to keep the land as it was. So this land will stay the same for ever.
From Glenorchy, we had to cross the River Jordan into Paradise. We were going riding with another woman who was called Jo, and from Australia and here for a conference.
We also saw where they filmed some scenes for Wolverine and Prince Caspian. We arrived at the departure point and met Joe who was our guide, and I was riding the most massive horse who was called Sully, and quite amusing at times!
On this tour, we saw various places from the LOTR films (obv) like part of Lothlorien woods, where Aragorn nearly gets decapitated, the tree where Boromir died, the plains of Isengard, the Mountain where the Ents broke the damn, and where the orcs chased the hobbits at the end of FOTR.
There wasn't a path through the forest until Peter Jackson decided to film there, and he put the track in. He gave £40,000 to the Paradise Trust, and a further £60,000 to put in the track and water tanks and a nursery to replace all the fauna that the filming used. Good old PJ!
We also saw some more sights from the Prince Caspian and Wolverine films. For my first time horse riding, it was really amazing, and I will definitely be doing more if I have the chance! (Like skiing)
We got back from horse riding and decided to go to the BBQ that Reaver's Lodge was putting on that evening. The plan was to go watch the rugby (Australia vs. New Zealand) down in town, but we ended up watching in the common room. We spent the evening hanging out with Alan and Daniel, venturing down into town, but deciding to return to the lodge! It was a pretty ace night, and it was a shame that we were leaving the next day!
I should probably explain the 'my pants or your pants' thing. Basically, pants (British) are underpants or knickers, but pants (Australian/Kiwi/American) are trousers. Which brought about a Hilarious comment from me having cold hands, which led someone to say 'put them in your pants' to which I replied 'my pants or your pants?' :D
This is why we need different words for you (sing.) and you (pl.) !! It's getting ridiculous!
We left on Sunday morning (after hoping the cloud and snow would cancel our flight, which it didn't) and still didn't experience the turbulence we were expecting on our way out! We returned to a rainy Auckland, which made us even sadder to be leaving Queenstown.
It's truly the best few days I've had in any city, meeting so many genuinely lovely people, being surrounded by the most stunning views and places, doing the most fun activities. I have the pictures up on my facebook (unedited through sheer number I would have to go through) if you wish to look!
I would really recommend Queenstown as a MUSTGO destination to EVERYONE. I am definitely going to have to go again at some point in my life!
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