We had to circle the airport a few times and it was startling to be flying lower than many of the peaks and to be so close. Startling and beautiful. We were jostled around a bit but I only started to get worried when we touched down at what felt like full speed. I was glad to have landed because if our landing attempt had failed they were so low on fuel that they were going to fly us to Invercargil rather than try landing again! We caught the bus to Queenstown and checked into Nomads, our hostel. We’re staying in a 10-person room and several 18yo English girls had their stuff exploded ALL over the room. There I was sitting two days shy of twenty looking at these girls basically my age and being baffled by their attitudes and practices. I felt OLD. It was getting on dark about now so we headed out to eat and explore. Having not explored Queenstown on my previous 2 hour stay, I was surprised at how small it was. I reckon that it is a small version of Aspen. I made a beeline for Fergburger, only the best burger joint ever. I had the ‘little lambie’ burger in honor of Charity and it was just as delicious as anticipated. We managed to waddle through the streets in our stuffed state and check out the entirety of the city…about 3 blocks by 3 blocks. I found some souvenirs I had planned to get (2 schweet shot glasses and a possum tail) for cheap and barely resisted purchasing some silk “All-Blacks” boxers. I did not resist the crème Brielle fudge at the Remarkable sweet shop….but really, who could? Then it was picnic time with my fudge and an ebook until I dozed off to sleep.
The next day, on our way to our first intentional adrenalin seeking, we ran into McKenna and Emma from FruitVans (our previous WWOOFing place)!
We chatted for a while, introduced Emma to fudge, drank a Dandelion and Burdock soda, and made plans to meet up with them in the evening. We took the gondola up Bob’s Mountain and marveled at the view. Took an appropriate amount of pictures as well. Then…it was time to LUGE!!!
Lugeing involves traveling down a concrete track at overly high speeds while seated in a flimsy plastic vehicle of sorts. It’s hard to explain but hopefully the pictures help.
I really enjoyed it, especially the parts where I almost wiped out but didn’t quite or when I would whizz by kids and hear their exclamations of envy at my extreme skills. I smelled my brakes a few times when I went into a turn a bit too fast but oh well. We caught the gondola down and went and batched together a lunch at the hostel. Then we went back to Bob’s Mountain and hiked up. We believed to be starting the hike at about 4:15pm because of a faulty vending machine clock and just plain silliness but it was actually more like 5:45. As soon as we started the hike, the clouds and fog rolled in quickly followed by dusk. I was very grateful New Zealand is devoid of large predators because that pine forest was looming very dark and scary with visibility probably 3 meters into the trail. We got a bit turned around at one point and because of this we didn’t reach the top until 7:30 pm…pretty much full dark.
Unfortunately, we were suppose to have met up with Emma and McKenna at 6 for dinner…so we were a bit late but still had a delicious homemade veggie-rice meal. We called it an early night because we needed to be up early for Milford Sound!We boarded the Kiwi Experience Bus (sorry Zita!) at 8 am and headed for Milford Sound. After driving through the Remarkables and entering flat sheepy country I took a quick nap and awoke just outside Te Anau. On our quick stop there, the temperature finally convinced me that it was finally time to invest in some gloves/hat and so I purchased some merino wool/possum fur gloves and a NZ beanie. I was so thankful Jessie and I had decided to move our trip from Thursday to Friday because our bus driver told us the weather the day before was possibly the worst he had ever seen and that it snowed on them at the end! From Te Anau we could see that Fiordland had received quite the dusting of snow!
As we entered into Fiordland I was so pleased at how the weather was holding up…not a shabby birthday present. When I previously visited Milford Sound it was a foggy and somewhat dreary day, but this time the sunlight was intense with only a smattering of clouds. There weren’t as many waterfalls of the cliff faces but I could actually see the mountain tops and more details of their formations. My previous impressions of Milford sound were reinforced in its splendor (visit blog data xxxxx for verbal description). It is apparently a common Kiwi wisdom that to truly appreciate Milford sound you must visit it once when it is sunny and once when it is raining. Check and check. Below are some comparison pictures.
Upon returning to Queenstown, it was time to celebrate my birthday in true backpacker style. I took advantage of a pub crawl that included a visit to an ice bar (which was cool though I doubt I’ll ever bother going to one again) and took full advantage of free birthday drinks (including several ‘ginga ninja’ cocktails which are so so SO deliciously gingery). Even when intoxicated I cannot get away from my usual dorky, academic, and ‘prudent’ self, so I ended up chatting the night away with a recent pre-med graduate from Cornell who is just as indecisive about medical school as me. Such conversations and new viewpoints are starting to foster a slightly different mindset that hopefully can withstand returning to the States.
I woke up the next morning and was informed by Jessie that the reason I wasn’t feeling hungover was that I was still intoxicated from the night before. I didn’t argue. However, I did proceed to go hiking for the next several hours (still in my pearl earrings from the night before…what a sight) so I was functional if a little too happy about hiking.
After our hike up the Queenstown Hill we made our way into Arrowtown to catch the Fall Festival closing down. We made the best of it and toured the historical Chinese Gold-Miner Settlement. We also managed to gather apples and walnuts from some trees. 
The next day was spent reading part of “The Time Travelers Wife” and working on my research paper for biology. I hit up the free BBQ at the World Bar and meet a fellow Atlanta-ian there! After commiserating about what we missed about the South (mostly food items) we hit up a micro-brewery after discovering they had a real (alcoholic) ginger beer. It was love at first sip but too intense for anything but a social drink. Still. It was liquid love. I also learned about a terrible incident concerning Alabama, the British car show “Top Gear”, and ‘man-love’, that made me feel so ashamed for the south. Google it, I’m sure it will come up. The rest of the night was pretty flat (it was Sunday) and the music was terrible for dancing at the World Bar so I turned in early on my last night in Queenstown. But I forget the most important instance of the night! The Climbing and Riding of the Moa. Yes, Steven! I climbed and rode the moa. Hopefully I’ll have pictures soon of this epic event. It was a fitting end to Queenstown.
