After our stunning journey to Milford Sounds & much consideration I decided that I was absolutely satisfied with my New Zealand journey so far & that I had done enough. The availability of all the outdoor adventures could seriously boggle ones mind so rather than get my mind boggled trying to decide what to do and what not to do (bearing in mind that these adventures all cost a pretty sum) and that all the exciting adventures could wait for next time. That is of course if there is a next time but I do truly believe that I have just been too overwhelmed with this country to never return & in addition my very oldest friend is here to stay with her Kiwi husband and Kiwi children & it would just do no good to never see her again so a trip now and again will just have to be arranged where I will fit in all the adventures that I have chosen to miss on this trip.
So you might be wondering exactly what it was that I was going to do while I was in Queenstown now that I had decided not to do my river rafting or Shotover Jet or canyoning or any other exciting activity. Well, after a nice little lie in (perhaps you can see the pattern of the night owl here) getting up at about 9.30 for a leisurely shower & breakfast, Jessica decided that she was going to do some parasailing for an hour or two so off we trotted into town for a stunning walk along the lake breathing nothing but fresh mountain air, so that Jessica could arrange her bits & then off she went to parachute off a boat. While she was doing that I opted to grab a coffee & head to one of internet cafes to check emails etc. I was so expecting Queenstown to be all about the activities and Milford Sound & not much else as far as the town goes but boy was I mistaken. Running alongside Lake Wakitipu with The Remarkables as the backdrop this town was certainly a stunning town & of course being the adventure capital the town itself was buzzing. When Jessica got back from her parasailing we thought that we should really head up Mt Bruce on the Gondola (cable car to you and me) and see the aerial view of Lake Wakitipu & the stunning Remarkables which was an absolute sight to behold. We wandered around the viewing area and then headed over to the Luge where we headed upwards on what looked a lot like a ski lift to me to get into our funny little cars and zoom down the hillside pushing forward to go fast and bringing it back to slow down. Although it was short and sweet (probably took about 45 minutes to get up to the Luge station three times, come down twice on our luges & pick up our bags and walk down the third time) but it was good fun and made us feel like we were 12 again although of course this time round being in full adulthood and fully understanding consequences I was a lot more cautious than I would have been at 12 I suspect. The joy of having no fear.
Once we had finished being kids we headed back down again and went in search of somewhere to have dinner as this was our last evening together as Jessica was taking the long route back to Christchurch as she was in no rush for Christmas. Let me tell you , this was no mean feat. I was really in the mood for some really nyummy pasta but it seemed that every Italian restaurant we went into (tried about 5) allmake their own pasta or use fresh pasta which means egg which means no go for Shannon & bless Jessica for her patience. As we had tried every Italian restaurant in Queenstown it appeared that pasta was not happening and that we should try something else. My second choice was risotto & as luck would have it we found a restaurant that made a Shannon friendly mushroom risotto so that we could enjoy our last meal together.
Sadly this also meant that I only had 2 more destinations left and then my stunningly amazing trip in New Zealand would be complete.
