Tuesday, 5 November 2013

Day 33 - A Vacation from our Vacation

Tuesday, November 5th, 2013

We awoke when we were ready - no alarm - to this view from our window.


We put on a load of laundry, headed downstairs for a late breakfast and then spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon catching up with reading and writing. Once we had our second load on (this combo washer/dryer appliance is pretty nifty!), we headed out to explore Queenstown. This city reminds me of Banff, except that it's not in a National Park, so there are homes built part-way up the mountain and fewer restrictions on activities and business licences. Lots of touristy shops, plenty of Asian tourists and tons of activities for every level of comfort with deep pockets. There is ziplining, bungy-jumping (this is where it all started), white water rafting, luging, parasailing, hang gliding, jet-boating, skydiving, horse trekking, canyon swinging, canyoning, zip trekking, cliff diving, to name some of what we saw today for the adventurous. For those less adventurous there is a casino, kayaking, golf, frisbee golf, segwaying, wine country tours, lake cruises, gondola rides and nature walks. The best part is that everything is accessible only minutes from downtown. Queenstown is also the ski destination for New Zealand with two ski fields within 30 minutes of the city and two others further afield. Needless to say, it is a very popular place for young people.

While I was browsing and waiting for Tina to get her hair cut, I happened upon the scene pictured here.


It's Melbourne Cup day (in Australia!) and these people are all decked out in their best attire having lunch and betting on the races at a restaurant in downtown Queenstown.

It was great to have no place in particular we had to go. We spent the rest of the day browsing, booking activities for tomorrow, drinking and eating.




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