After breakfast at our hotel, we were given a “Bee” pass. You swipe this as you get on public transportation and again when you get off. It allowed us to use a bus to get down from our hotel (which is on a hill to the side of town) and – perhaps more importantly – back.
Rod walked us around Queenstown to give us our bearings. This first photo is from the description of the steamer that will take us tomorrow night to our “farewell dinner” across the lake. It was built the same year as the Titanic and has had many jobs. This photo shows when it would go from sheep station to sheep station, gathering up sheep.
Here is a life sized moa (now extinct) with Dawn, and a cute tea house near the Botanic Gardens.
We had read about “Fergburger,” which was just as busy as the “best burger in New Zealand” has a right to be. Lynn and I hit it early – at 11:00 – and split a venison “Bambi burger” and fries, plus had a glass of wine (of course we did). The line wasn’t terrible and – more importantly – we were able to snag two seats at a table outside. (Seats are really at a premium – most people sit on a wall out front.) When I ordered the wine, I was told that I “couldn’t take it outside” (all the inside tables were obviously packed), but I pointed out the “server window” to where Lynn was sitting. The cashier told me that was the only outside table that was allowed wine, as it was “under and awning” and so still “counted” as being “inside.” (Right when we were about to leave, Cindy and Toshiko were in line – Cindy had gotten a “Fergpie” from the bakery next door, so she took my seat, and held the other for Toshiko, who was getting a burger. Great timing!)
Afterwards, we headed to Patagonia (no, not the clothing shop) to have gelato for dessert. Check out these treats! And – need a job?
Patagonia is known for its ‘world famous’ hot chocolate, but we were too stuffed to think about it.
There are a lot of restaurants in New Zealand with names that makes you smile. (This one is a Mexican restaurant):
After our walk around Queenstown and lunch, it was time for our jet boat adventure on the Dart. The jet boats skim over the water, which can be as shallow as four inches! It was quite a long drive to get there – about 45 minutes on a winding road. We made it though, and were outfitted in long water-proof, warm jackets plus life preservers. Gluten-free Marilyn was kind enough to “pose” in what we were calling our “penguin getup.”
It was definitely nippy, but turns out that the railings that you can hold onto in the jet boat have hot water running through them to warm your hands. Genius!
I have some shots of the beautifulness:
The guide showed us all the various spots where parts of The Hobbit were filmed – it wasn’t until the middle of the last one that I realized I should be doing a Marco Polo to Leann about these, as she has a friend that’s a Lord of the Rings nut. Missed opportunity!
Here are some shots that the boat driver took of our “merry band”:
A couple of panoramas:
And finally, a video of what the adventure was like! This is 5 minutes long, so it might take a bit to load . . . but I was determined to keep filming until the driver did a 360* turn in the river! (If you forward to about 4:30 you get the idea.)
Lynn and I eschewed heading to town for dinner, opting instead to head back to the hotel to catch our blogs up! Tomorrow is a trip to Arrowtown, which is apparently a mining town, and then our trip on the steamer and Farewell Dinner. Jan and Gluten-Free Marilyn are heading to Tasmania, and Toshiko, Bev and Jim are also not doing the post-trip to the Bay of Islands.
In the meantime, I’m trying to get the photos to load (it’s been SO TEDIOUS) and we’re swapping some things around to try to get our suitcases to 50 pounds and 15 pounds for the trip from here to Auckland. :-) (Lynn arrived with less “weight” than I had, but we have both been buying presents which doesn’t do much for the weight situation. We’re wearing our heavy boots on the plane!)
If you want $100 off, call OAT at 1-800-955-1925 and request a catalog, tell them you were referred by Sandy Shepard, customer number 3087257, and get $100 off your first trip!