Conquering Queenstown Hill

After our walk yesterday we realised that we missed doing walks, not only are they enjoyable and rewarding but also they are free! So today we thought we'd up our game and tackle Queenstown Hill. We shared a coffee at Starbucks to gear us up for the climb ahead. Just climbing up to the start of the track in the campervan proved rather difficult but with a few stalls and hill starts we managed to make it. Luckily people previously had found good sticks to use as walking sticks and had left these behind. Nick had read that it can be steep in places so having a stick was a welcome help. We experienced this steepness within the first few metres and already we were wondering if we could actually do this. We stuck it out though and soon we were deep in the pine forest. We came across a rather enchanting area along the way. On our travels we've noticed it seems to be a thing for tourists to build towers out of flat rocks, we have no idea why but these pop up all over the place. We entered an area with loads of these towers but it had been taken to another level by some having little tiny fairy doors added to the front. I've never been in a forest with so many red and white spotted mushrooms and it definitely did feel like we were inside a fairytale forest. As we climbed higher we discovered more and more areas which were covered in frost where the sun hadn't reached yet. Winter is definitely on it's way. We reached a lookout area where an artist has installed a sculpture called 'The Basket of Dreams'. It did add a nice focal point to the view although the view was so amazing that I wasn't sure if it really needed a focal point. We had one final 20 minute push to the summit and this is always the hardest part in any climb. We powered on through and were rewarded with a wonderful view and the bluest of skies and water in front of us. We saw what looked like tiny toy sized planes coming into land at the airport and it was hard to accept that they were huge passenger planes in reality. Behind us we also had great views of snowed capped peaks. We eventually dragged ourselves away from the view and took an alternative route down to the start of the track. This route took us through forest with hundreds and hundreds of those red and white mushrooms. After returning our sticks we made our way back to town where we visited an attraction called Shootout which has 4D cinema experiences. We both experienced a rollercoaster simulator and Nick did two shooting games one with aliens and one with zombies. I was too much of a wimp to give those a go and knew I'd want to put my fingers in my ears and cover my eyes so I let him do those solo. It was entertaining to see his reaction on the screen and at one point his knees were up by his chest. Definitely safe to say he felt a little unnerved after the experience. We spent the rest of the day sat on the water front with some caramelised cashew nuts and hopeful ducks before heading back to our new favourite camping spot and trying our campervan shower for the first time. Safe to say it's the most hot and cold shower we've both ever had!Read more