(Editor's Note: This is entry 1 of 3 wrapping up my most recent trip. I will get some pictures up here in a couple days, but I am on dial up right now and can't deal with the speed)
Seeing as there is so much to do in Queenstown, we knew we were in for an eventful full day when we awoke around 8:30 AM on Tuesday. After getting a little breakfast, we decided to go check out the information center and see what our best options were. While browsing the myriad of pamphlets, I decided to take a flight-cruise-flight combo to Milford Sound in the Fiordlands, but that was not to be as there were no flights leaving from Queenstown due to the weather in Milford Sound. So, my attention turned to sky diving versus bungy jumping, but we decided to postpone the decision for a little while and check out more of Queenstown.
Our first move was to take a gondola ride to the top of Bob's Peak, which would provide us with an excellent aerial view of Queenstown. We purchased our tickets and also decided to take a "luge" ride at the top of Bob's Peak (basically you steer a three-wheeled little cart down a winding course). The gondola ride up was fun and as expected the views were fantastic. We snapped some photos and then headed to the luge which was an entertaining, mini-thrill. Also at the top of Bob's Peak is the newest AJ Hackett bungy jump which got me thinking that since there were clouds in the sky and skydiving might not be as wonderful as possible that maybe bungy jumping was the right move. So, I booked a spot on the noon Nevis jump and we hustled down the hill to get to the departure site.
(Refer to the cowa-bungy post for all of the bungy related details!)
Once back in Queenstown we decided that we needed some food, so on Jake's recommendation, we headed over to Ferg Burger for a fantastic burger. Now fulfilled hunger-wise, we decided to move on to the fun of the evening. We went to a specialty wine shop which allows you to taste 80 different wines for all different prices. We had about 8 different wines each which was a lot of fun (I don't think I determined a favorite, but I am big fan of the Pinot Noirs and Sauviagnan Blancs from New Zealand). By now the rain had moved in, and our plan of going to the harbor and just relaxing was washed away. We decided instead to purchase a bottle of wine and visit a BYOWine restaurant to get another little bite to eat. En route we encountered a fresh seafood shack and sampled some of his delicious fare, and then we moved on to Dux de Lux where I had a salad and some seafood chowder and Amy partook in her half of the bottle of wine. With the wine done, we wanted to sample another suggestion of Jake and Michelle's a Thai place called @ Thai. So, up we went to @Thai where I got some chicken Satay and a Gin Sling (Gin, grenadine, lemon juice and soda water...really tasty!). At that point we were both stuffed and were thinking of heading back to our room...
...but, oh no, this night was FAR from over! On the way past the casino, I convinced Amy to go into the casino because I had found a two for one drink coupon. She was in the mood for one more drink and I thought I'd just gamble for a bit and then head to sleep. Well, the 2 black jack tables at the Sky City Casino were both full, so we dejectedly walked out only to stumble upon the sweet melody of Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs Robinson" coming from an Irish bar called Kennedy's. So, in we went for our planned last drink of the night to a semi-empty bar with a three person band called "Those Guys" playing some American favorites. I settled into my first non-NZ beer of the trip (a Guinness since we were in an Irish bar) and we were just enjoying the scene.
And thats when we met Richard.
Richard began his introduction with a classic "guess what happened to me today?", and since we had never even seen Richard we had no idea. So, he pulled out a piece of paper stating that he had, in fact, been arrested earlier that afternoon for get this: shooting a toy arrow at a bus. He had the arrow stuck to his Guinness glass in case there was any doubt. Richard was a native Kiwi though had only moved to Queenstown a short while ago. He was a really nice guy, very interested in helping us plan the rest of our trip and introduced us to his girlfriend Robin, a native Texan with no trace of American vernacular; she spoke just like a Kiwi. We ended up staying for two more drinks, listening to some pretty good music and having some fun conversation with Richard and Robin. As the band wound down, Richard asked if we wanted to see a more local bar, which we were of course up to. Out into the street the four of us went, with rain coming down and not a care in the Southern Hemisphere. Richard took us through some back alleys and we arrived on some street Amy and I had not even encountered in our 2 days of wandering. Fun stuff! I bought a bottle of local (Lake Hayes) Pinot Noir and the four of us continued our lively conversation, covering all sorts of topics. As the wine wound down, Amy headed back to our room a couple blocks away, Richard and Robin bid us farewell, and I decided to say hello to my friend the Sky City Casino.
Apparently I had a little too much wine, because my former friend the Sky City Casino asked me how much I had had to drink that night, and when I responded "five or six...or seven", Mr. Sky City Casino informed me that I was not allowed to take their money that night. Back into the night, I somehow gave directions to another couple of Americans, and off I went seeking the other casino in town the Wharf Casino. I sat down with no problems at this joint and being a pretty good judge of my sobriety, deemed myself not all that drunk (which I still maintain even writing this a couple days later). I played black jack for about 45 minutes, ending with an additional $20 in my pocket and decided that my thrilling day was at an end.
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