Susan's Travel Sagas

11-29-2009

Woke to a sunny day, but more clouds in the sky and more breeze. Had the usual NZ breakfast, no other guests to talk with. There was a couple from S. Africa there, but the man only emerged to ask for an iron. I had forgotten to confirm my Skipper’s Canyon Adventure until around 10 PM the night before and ended up changing the plan as I was the only one booked on the trip with the 4 wheel drive and gold mining museum tour. So I was able to leave a little later (8:15 AM), do the trip with some other people on a bus, and save about $50. The trip was really fun, a bus ride on this gravel road cut into the mountain that to the area that was in the 1800’s and early 1900’s a major gold mining area and where gold was discovered in NZ.  We saw the site of the first bungy jump, closed because a higher one was opened. Then we arrived far back in the canyon and went on a jet boat ride. That was great fun, first upstream and then down at about 80 km/hour, filled with 360 degree spins and near misses from overhanging rocks. Then back to Queenstown and I was dropped off at the B&B.

I was speaking with Leslie about something and the topic of laundry came up. She said I could do the laundry there for $6 which was fine with me. So I gathered my clothes together and put them in the washer. She said she would put them in the dryer and remove them for me. Then off to Queenstown. I walked through the gardens, discovered a rose named Hayley Westenra, the same name as the singer of the CD I had been listening to and admiring at breakfast. She was a NZ star at age 18, sings something like Charlotte Church.  Then I walked to look at the shops, found Patagonia, a gourmet chocolate and ice cream shop. For the second day in a row, I decided to indulge in ice cream. This was some of the best ice cream I have ever had, served in big waffle cones. I splurged and had a double scoop, dark chocolate with macademia nuts and tramontano which is a cream base with dulce de leche  and butterscotch balls coated in chocolate.  It was to die for! That served as lunch. I continued wandering through some shops, then got very tired, so went back to the car to rest before the evening event.

Had to be at the steamship dock at 5:40 for the steamboat cruise across the lake, dinner and farm tour at the Earmslaw high country farm. The boat was interesting and the ride was nice, but nothing too spectacular. Sat with some Australians who had come here for their son/brother’s wedding. The dining room at the farm was pretty, wood paneled, formal place settings, replete with a live piano player. The tour group people sat in the large room, and we independent travelers were in a smaller dining room. I had to eat alone at a small table. Dinner was a buffet with salads, some different meats, and desserts. I had prime rib which wasn’t that great accompanied by a glass of wine which helped. Then we went for the “farm tour” which consisted of watching a dog round up some sheep and sheep shearing. This was much hokier and much less informative that the “hokey” show I saw in Waitomo. In retrospect, this whole event I could have done without.

Now back to the B&B.