Queenstown

Queenstown is a gorgeous ski town on the edge of an enormous lake surrounded by snow capped mountains. Everything is so beautiful here, the view of the mountains resembling an oil painting. It is perhaps one of the most stunning places I have ever visited. Unfortunately we don't have the money to go skiing which is a shame as apparently this is the best winter Queenstown has seen in 10 years. Instead we will have to settle for a wander around the town. After parking up the car, we wandered through the town mooching around a couple of the shops before stopping by the lake for a picnic lunch.

Queenstown is the home of bungee jumping and a whole plethora of other adrenaline filled activities. The lake is massive and therefore a number of activities take place on it. We had read in the Lonely Planet about a shark boat type thing that jets above and below the water and jumps 5 meters into the air. We were therefore excited when we saw a couple of these sharks going out into the lake when we were eating lunch. It was a massive anti climax though. Thank god we didn't pay lots of money to go in one. Simon is keen to do a sky dive (I have absolutely no desire to do that whatsoever) but he is going to save it for Australia instead.

After lunch we went for a short walk around Queenstown Gardens. Despite the glorious sunshine, it was a very cold day so before long we were frozen and headed back to the van. We did get a little side tracked on the way back though. Next to Fergburger you will find Fergbaker which makes the most incredible cakes. We therefore may have accidentally ended up with a vanilla slice and a white chocolate baked cheesecake to go with our afternoon tea. Oops!

The rest of the afternoon was filled with chores like laundry before we headed out to a new free camp spot just outside of town next to a lake.Read more