Chapter 18: Back to Queenstown

26/12/19

Heading back to Queenstown.

Christmas is over, time to leave Te Anau behind. My first proper night out in New Zealand did not help me to sleep better but hey, it was fun. I get out the room just before 10.00 am. I meet op with the Dutch-speaking people for the breakfast and Maxim and I decide it is time for some real New Zealand pies. He starts conquering the Kepler track today so I needs the additional calories and me, well I

just did not have tried them yet. A small local bakery is famous for them in Te Anau so we set out on our 10 min hike and queue up with all the tourists. Lots of choose and eventually I order the Steak + Cheese and the minced meat + Cheese. There we go, hot hot hot these pies are but the first bite is delicious. For the people from Belgium, it kinda tastes like ‘stoofvlees’ with cheese inside bladerdeeg. It is kinda weird but definitely a good way to start the day!

The Dutch girl, the Danish guy and the two Israelis jump into their car and head towards Wanaka for 3 days while Maxim and me go back to the hostel. After a backpacking goodbye, I leave the Brugse/Roeselaarse rugby dude to his Kepler track. Typical Belgian style he took waaaaaay too much stuff with him but he will survive. When raining started, it was our time to separate. Bye bye Kepler track and Te Anau, bye bye the place where I have spend my first

Christmas without knowing someone.

A two-hour drive on the Souther senic route brings me back towards civilization. 26th of December is Boxing Day, the first day of the sales. I already brought too much stuff from Belgium, what could I possible be needing? Well I am a sucker for discounts so here I go. One of the New Zealand brands, Kathmandu, is not easily available in Europe so shopping it is. I end up with a new rain jacket and some merino wool stuff. Sooooooo soft those layers are! Wolletjes zijn ALTIJD de moeite om mee te nemen op vakantie, ge kunt nooit warm genoeg hebben! Where I will store all the stuff I don’t know yet but I will figure that out once I am in Christchurch dropping off the car.

Today is a lazy day. I prepare some food, do the laundry and time for sleep. 1 mg of Rivotril should knock me down for a couple of hours to get some energy for the JUICE pod hostel tomorrow.

Steven

27/12/2019

I leave the Haka lodge behind and make my way to the JUICE pod hostel for the next two days. The rooms are tightly packed and are made of up 8 little pods providing some privacy to its user. The JUICE hostel is huge, 5 floors full of cabins. Here time is irrelevant since party people go out until late in the night while other people go snoozing at 10.00 pm. That’s the slight advantage of sleeping in pod’s, you don’t get disturbed by the light of people entering in the middle of their party night.

The weather is shit and I already did all my shopping. At the top level

of the hostel a bar/pizza place is presented with a nice overview of the city. I sit down and continue writing my blog. Accidently, the Danish dude from the previous hostel is also present in the JUICE. We talk and decide to go out for a beer. It’s rather quite for a party city but we run into random strangers that join us in several places. Man, New Zealand people really enjoy fold music and the killers. When Mr Brightside is played (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGdGFtwCNBE), the crowds go crazy. Well after a view beers, it is time to head home again. Since at 3.00 am in the night, the queue for Fernburgers is literally non existing (normally you stand in line for 1 hour), we wait 10 min for it. It’s good, but to say that it’s the best burger of New Zealand? Well my total amount of samples in the country is to low to make statistically relevant comments about it. People that are still reading the blog (thank you guys) should just come to Queenstown and decide for yourself.

Time to digest and sleep in!

Steven

28/12/2019

Today is the day to go up the hills of Queenstown. Although the city is centered next to the great lake, it’s the surrounding mountains that create the spectacular views on the city. I can either choose between the Queenstown hill and the skyview hill. Since the later has the cable car going up it seems to be the place to be. This hill is also known for its excellent downhill mountain bike tracks so steep it is. The hill is covered with a tick forest of pinecones in which different ziplines are installed. Indeed, Queenstown is known for its adrenaline rush and even on the mountain you can find it. I leave the ziplines

behind and make my way to the top. Here, the cable lift is coming to its end and a bunch of tourists jump off in a regular parade making the place very very crowded. Compared to the sessellift in Boppard (Germany), this is much larger and much higher up in the mountain.

The effort of hiking up resulted in a nice overview of Queenstown and its lake. The bright sun gives way for clouds and it becomes colder. At the top, the busiest thing is the ‘Ludge’. It looks like a go-cart track but everything is gravity based. That’s the advantage of having a large mountain, which result it in better gravity. The red and blue tracks take you in 5–ish min back to the start of a smaller sessellift where you can go up again and try to be faster. This seems to be something for me so I decide to hit the queue. We all get a colorful helmet on depending on its size. Since it’s my first time riding the Ludge I need to get the introduction and beginner blue track. The principle is simple. Push you go forward, pull and you will brake.

Sounds simple? It is! The problem is that my center of gravity is rather high so my speed is rather mediocre. Maybe I need to get fatter! Talking about food, time to find some.

I go back down towards Queenstown using the Tiki trail. A path of rocks in the forest which cannot be ridden by the mountainbike people takes me back to the city center. Since today is not a cooking day, I go back to my favorite Japanese place, Iko. A good bowl of sashimi salmon with avocado, miso soup and the bento box completely fills me up. That’s the good thing about rice, you can keep on eating it. Afterwards, I head back to the hostel and meet up with the Danish traveller. My first glass of New Zealand red wine is flavorful. He heads out back into the nightlife of Queenstown while I make my way to my pod. I am too old for this shizzle! Tomorrow will be hiking day.

Queenstown out,

Steven