Day 34 - Queenstown, NZ

Wednesday, November 6th, 2013

We are so lucky!!! It is raining all over New Zealand today but Queenstown is sunny and warm. This city is gorgeous!

After enjoying another of the Heritage Hotel's fabulous breakfasts, we walked downtown for our Segway experience. We had a 20 minute training session before 6 of us headed into town for a tour. It took the entire 20 minutes of practice before we were comfortable on the vehicle - especially the stopping and parking bit. Tina took on the task of being the first to try it out. She looks a bit tense here but she took to the Segway like a duck to water and I was chasing her for the rest of the tour.

It was great fun cruising around the lake and through the parks and gardens. Three of us 'more mature' riders noticed how sore our feet were quite early into the ride. I guess we were using our foot muscles a lot more than we thought we were. A one-hour ride was plenty for us today but we'd definitely do it again!

A rest and a bit of shopping later we board a vintage steamship the  TSS Earnslaw for an 11 km trip down Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak high country farm.

Lake Wakatipu is 84 km long, the 2nd longest in NZ. It is glacier-fed as you can see from the gorgeous aqua-coloured water.

Once we arrived at Walter Peak, we were treated to the most fantastic, delicious barbeque either of us has experienced for a long time, perhaps ever! Lamb, beef, chicken, ribs, sausages, potatoes, 2 kinds of roasted squash, and too many delicious salads to name - all unique and flavoured with fresh herbs. This was all followed by sticky date pudding, fruit and a local cheese board. Yummy!

Walter Peak Farm has been a working farm since the 1880's but in 1991 400 acres was sold off to Fiord Travel to develop the tourist destination it is today. After lunch we were invited to feed the sheep and lambs, see a working dog mustering demonstration, sheep shearing and spinning. The farm also raises red deer and highland cattle both exported from Scotland.

We hopped the steamship back to Queenstown 3 hours later. I couldn't stop myself from taking photo after photo on the way home. It was sunny and warm and the scenery is spectacular! We enjoyed a beer on a patio at the wharf upon our return and then came back to our hotel for a swim, soak in the hot tub and quiet night in preparation for moving on tomorrow:(  Nothing is forever.