Sun 8th Feb – Sat 14th Feb
Accommodation: RuRu Retreat on AirBnB
Mon 9th: Queenstown Gondola and Shotover Day
It was a cloudy start to the day but the boys set off on a bike ride and us girls took a walk. All that was curtailed though as David felt unwell on the ride and opted to return to base. This didn’t alter our plans for the day however but it just meant we were a little bit later setting off for the Queenstown Gondola. This worked out well though as the clouds had disappeared by this stage and we enjoyed blue sky and sunshine for the rest of the day. We opted for the gondola with three luge ride pass @$89 per person and this was money well spent as we all had a blast and some wished we’d opted for the five luge pass! We finished off the luge session with lunch at the Skyline cafe and viewing platform. There wasn’t time to dawdle though as we had a busy afternoon ahead.
Our afternoon activity was the Queenstown shot over jet experience at 3.30 pm and this involved driving about 15 minutes out of Queenstown to the Shotover River, a tributary connected to Lake Wakitipu. Colleen and I had been quite anxious beforehand but it turned out to be a most thrilling and memorable event. Our driver, Joe, was charming but, more importantly, he was very competent at the wheel although it was alarming just how close he drove the boat at speed towards the sheer vertical cliff edges that encased much of the, often very narrow, river. Having said that, I was glad once it was over.
Our evening was spent back at our house where we enjoyed a delicious bbq with red wine whilst soaking up more of the glorious view. It had been a wonderful day, despite the early drama.
Tue 10th
It was a bit of a mixed day for all of us as early rain stymied the boys bike ride. Instead, we went for a bit of a walk and had a morning coffee at The Bathhouse by the lake. Our plan had been to go to Wanaka for the day but David still wasn’t feeling great still so we decided he should seek a medical opinion and that kept him tied up at the hospital for much of the day. The rest of us spent a few hours exploring Queenstown before David returned in the late afternoon. Dinner was a bbq at home followed by an early night but we did get around to trying out the hot tub!
Wed 11th: Wanaka Day
It was another overcast start to the day but Mark set off for a ride whilst Coll and I took a walk. David was very brave taking a dip in Lake Wakatipu as it was very chilly; David estimated it was around 16 degrees Celsius!
Our main activity for the day was a trip out to Wanaka where we took a walk along the 5 km Mount Iron loop track. Had I know this morning what I know now, after the walk, I would not have signed up for this activity. It was quite a tough trek being uphill for the first two kilometres at a gradient of 10 degrees! It was a magnificent day for the walk though, as the clouds had disappeared by the time we started, and we had glorious sunshine for the entire trek. There were some beautiful vistas along the way and we felt a great sense of accomplishment by the end of the trail. We all probably would have dressed a bit differently however had we known how warm it was going to be.
It was about 1:30pm by the time we got back to the car and we then headed into Wānaka for lunch to a place my Physio had recommended and this turned out to be a great tip indeed. We all had a delicious lunch at The Big Fig and we only wished this concept of restaurant was available back home. You chose a plate size and could then nominate four, five or six portions of the delicious food they had on offer, depending on the plate size you opted for. The ‘choosing’ was the hard part.
Colleen and I wished we could have spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Wanaka township but we didn’t have the time. I would definitely nominate to spend a couple of nights here if we ever returned to the region. I was outvoted by Mark on this itinerary but will prevail if there is ever a next time. Rippon Winery was just near town and had been suggested to us as being well worth a visit but the gates were closed on our arrival so that is another place to put on the ‘next time’ list.
Tom and Tara had raved about the Cardrona Hotel as being worth a visit, following their recent trip to NZ, so we set off back towards Queenstown with a stop there along the way. This was a lovely old pub indeed and well worth a visit if you’re ever in the area. We headed back to the house afterwards as we had a 6.15pm booking at Botswana Butchery. This was an interesting dining experience from a ‘people-watching’ perspective as the clientele were all old! Our age, that is. The rest of Queenstown is full of young folk but they weren’t dining here. The food was nice but probably only on par with the steak the guys cooked on our first night. It was a nice setting with nice food but very expensive. The big plus to being in town for dinner was being able to amble back through the village on our way home. It was close to 8.30 pm but essentially full daylight and with loads of people out and about and milling around the town; it was reminiscent of holiday evenings in Europe. Queenstown is a most lovely part of the world and well worth putting on your ‘to do’ list.
