Days 71 to 76 10-8-2007 to 15-8-2007 Queenstown

Another bus journey (8 hrs this time) and once again amazing landscapes. In particular, passing alongside Lake Wanaka with the mountains on the other side reflecting in the still mirrorlike lake was spectacular . With views like these the hours flew bye. On the way we passed over the AJ Hacket bridge where all the Bunjy stuff was first done, you must have had to have been some sort of Loon to have been the first to try it. and i wasnt going to be the last loon either!

Queenstown is the extreme sport capital of the world and therefore airhead capital of the world. Brains are generally left at home in the sock draw for most people who come here. e.g. One guy actually spent over half an hour trying to decided who his favourate friends character was (this was the level of conversation in the hostel).

As for Queenstown, the scenery is spectacular. The view of Lake Wakatipu and the snow capped Remarkables mountain range behind, make the long journey alone worth while. My plan was since it was Winter, to either to improve on my dodgy skiing skills or try snowboarding. This was totally torpedoed by the weather. The first few days threw it down. The only sunny day, i was away at Milford Sound, and the last two days there was serious Avalanche warnings (one came down and just mised the nursary slopes at the Remarkables). Having said that there was still loads to do. There are some great walks. In particular there is one you can take via the skyrail, which will lead you to some mountain views out of sight from Queenstown.

The famous Milford Track walk is not too far ( on the way to Milford Sound ), this is a 3 day walk, but is closed for winter for obvious reasons and also needs to be booked well in advance.

The latest exteame contraption in Queenstown is the canyon swing. Which consits of a 60 free fall (this is how long it takes for the wire to tighten), then a 100 m radius swing. Once you've conquerered that fear, there are various positions you can take (backwards, upside down or other positions such as "Gimp Boy goes to Hollywood" or the "Elvis Cuttaway". Id like to say i couldn't attempt this due to bad weather. In fact i will! Mind you the people who did it in the rain said it was better!

The night life is pretty good but mainly a restaurant and bar scene rather than clubbing, having said that you're usually too knackered to go clubbing ( or is that acting my age)

On a plus note most some pubs show the live footy games (earliest one being at 11 at night), Shame about Man U