Francesca and Henk-Jan's Backpacking Trip!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Queenstown revisited
The day after our return to Queenstown (named so by the pioneers because they thought the town was fit for a Queen) was time for a bit of a rest. We slept in for some mandatory sleep, after all the antics in Dunedin. After waking up slowly and eating a bite we headed for town. I had been wanting to see Quentin Tarantino's new movie 'Inglorious Basterds' and Francesca was fine with that too... As we walked up to the Reading Cinema to check the starting time I saw it started at 14:15PM. Francesca asked me to check the time, and it was 14:16PM on the watch. Must have been faith! We proceeded to the counter, bought two tickets and sat down for some gore. The movie turned out to be less bloody than I expected, but Tarantino delivered another masterpiece for sure! Go see it (if you like his other movies anyway...)!
Our next move in Queenstown was one to Francesca's liking. Cheap, but very delicious Indian from a place called the Bombay Palace. Francesca ended up with her usual choice of butter chicken; I opted for the beef korma. We ate garlic and cheese naan, and peshwari naan as a side. Francesca had wanted me to see 'Twins' with Ahhhnold and Danny DeVito. Yeahh... Interesting movie! Funny to copy Ahhhnold's accent and make Francesca hate me. A good way to finish a lazy day!
The following day was much more active! I had wanted to go luging (tobogganing) since we first got into Queenstown, and today was going to be the day. It was drizzling a little bit when we left the hostel, but the sun was shining as well, and the tracks were opened, so we went for it. To get up to the luge, we had to take a Gondola up the mountain. It took about 5 minutes and a very steep climb to get to a little cafe and a view of one of the three bungees in Queenstown: the Ledge. The ledge is different from the other two jumps, because you get to jump any way you want. You can run off, dive off, bike off, do flips and twists, whatever you can come up with. Pretty neat! We didn't spend our money on this thrill-activity though...
No, we went up with a little ski-lift to the starting point of the luge. After grabbing our helmets we had to go down the mandatory 'Scenic Track' first. Francesca was scared of the speed, and I stayed with her to make sure she didn't crash. Unfortunately, the first corner proved too tight for her and I had to get out of my luge to get her going again. The false start didn't prove to be a recipe for the rest of the day, as she improved a lot in that run already! I got her to let go of the break a lot more, so she got to speed up way more! With a slightly wet track that made for great fun!
Our second run was on the 'Advanced Track,' a slightly more difficult track, but nothing too scary. Francesca wanted to scout it first, so we took it easy again, with some speed bumps here and there causing the occasional scream from my female companion. As we went through our runs we went faster and faster! We knew there was a camera at the end of the track, so we posed as we approached the finish line, and got some great pictures that way. The last run was great fun, and I'm sure we could've gone on for quite some time longer because Francesca really got into it!
Unfortunately, the weather got worse after our last run, so we went to the cafe where Francesca enjoyed an apple cinnamon doughnut. This marked the end of our stay up in the mountains, as we jumped back in the Gondola and headed back down to the center of town. One of the girls on the bus down to Bluff had told us about a steak-night (1 pound/half a kg of steak for $15 NZD!!!), but we had forgotten the whereabouts of said steaks... We had asked around and nobody seemed to know what we were talking about. Our final hope was one of the locals behind the desk at the Info&Track where we had booked our luging. And huzzah! He knew we had to go to Monty's, a little bar hidden away in one of the less popular streets of town.
We got there around 18:00PM, pretty hungry and very ready for a huge steak. We placed our order of the famous steak, some garlic bread and vegetables and anticipated the arrival of our food feast. Wow, the steak was huge indeed! Francesca made herself some steak sandwiches with the garlic bread, but I just attacked the steak head-on. So good! The mashed potatoes with a mushroom sauce certainly helped spice things up. The meal definitely lived up to our expectations, and more than full we headed back to the hostel.
This morning had us getting up relatively early, because we had to switch rooms. It proved to be a good thing because the weather was great. Francesca wanted to see the Gardens, and we headed there first. I spotted a strange-looking signpost in the distance and walked over. Apparently the Gardens are used for frisbee golf!
Francesca and I had never heard of this sport before, but after a little practice we decided to give it a go! We grabbed one of the free frisbees laying around and started on the first 'hole.' A hole in this case is more like a large metal basket. It was great to see the park as well as do something a little bit sporty (more so for me as I had to run for the frisbees).
Due to the wind we did pretty badly, only scoring par once... It didn't matter though, as we had great fun doing it! Took us a good two hours to go all the way around, getting some welcomed sun in the process. The walk was followed by an iced chocolate (basically chocolate milk with icecubes and vanilla icecream), which tasted very good! Francesca drank most of it before I got to try it... :(
The day ended quietly with a little dinner for two, prepared by yours truly. We crawled in bed nice and early, because the bus would take us from Queenstown to Christchurch the following morning. As the alarm rudely awoke us the next morning around 07:00AM we knew that we had a really long drive ahead of us.
When the Stray bus finally arrived we feared not even being able to sit together, as the bus was crowded. However, they had left the last row unused, and Francesca and I ended up with the best seats in the house! Francesca laid down for a little more sleep as the dawn turned to day, and drizzle changed into sunshine.
Our first stop of the morning was a barren strip of land that had suffered from a hurricane a few years before. The local farmer that owned the land and lost most of his buildings due to the force of nature had gathered the scraps and built a giant ‘watchman’ that now looks over the land in search of new hurricanes.
Midday saw us pulling up in a town called Lake Tekapo. As the name suggests, the place is mainly famous for its lake. This particular lake is too cold for plants to grow in, and that is why the water looks emerald-green, not blue. We also walked into a little church where I took an artistic photo of a cross, combined with beautiful scenery. The moment of silence was followed by a walk to a statue of a famous sheepdog. The Collie Dog, as the legend goes, was able to follow commands given to it four hours before.
Unfortunately, stretching our legs ended and Francesca and I got back on the bus for some lunch. I’ve been making Francesca the most interesting sandwiches, with whatever food we have in our food bags. This has resulted in cheese, salami and jelly or peanut butter sandwiches and a few other unlikely combinations. With some chips and a sip of diet coke or milk, lunch is served.
Around two we stopped in another town, called Geraldine. Geraldine is apparently famous for the biggest sweater in the world, and a mosaic made out of the teeth of saws. We didn’t get to see much of either, since the shop was closed… So much for tourism in Geraldine! Fortunately, we did find a nice fish and chips shop where Francesca picked out two pieces of Elephant fish and a side of kumara chips, which went down very well. I also picked up a healthy smoothie from a place around the corner.
The last two hours of hour drive went by pretty quickly, and around 16:00PM we reached the outskirts of Christchurch. Our hostel was slightly outside the city center, so the driver dropped off the majority of the bus first, before taking us to our final destination. Francesca will tell you all about that!
Our next move in Queenstown was one to Francesca's liking. Cheap, but very delicious Indian from a place called the Bombay Palace. Francesca ended up with her usual choice of butter chicken; I opted for the beef korma. We ate garlic and cheese naan, and peshwari naan as a side. Francesca had wanted me to see 'Twins' with Ahhhnold and Danny DeVito. Yeahh... Interesting movie! Funny to copy Ahhhnold's accent and make Francesca hate me. A good way to finish a lazy day!
The following day was much more active! I had wanted to go luging (tobogganing) since we first got into Queenstown, and today was going to be the day. It was drizzling a little bit when we left the hostel, but the sun was shining as well, and the tracks were opened, so we went for it. To get up to the luge, we had to take a Gondola up the mountain. It took about 5 minutes and a very steep climb to get to a little cafe and a view of one of the three bungees in Queenstown: the Ledge. The ledge is different from the other two jumps, because you get to jump any way you want. You can run off, dive off, bike off, do flips and twists, whatever you can come up with. Pretty neat! We didn't spend our money on this thrill-activity though...
No, we went up with a little ski-lift to the starting point of the luge. After grabbing our helmets we had to go down the mandatory 'Scenic Track' first. Francesca was scared of the speed, and I stayed with her to make sure she didn't crash. Unfortunately, the first corner proved too tight for her and I had to get out of my luge to get her going again. The false start didn't prove to be a recipe for the rest of the day, as she improved a lot in that run already! I got her to let go of the break a lot more, so she got to speed up way more! With a slightly wet track that made for great fun!
Our second run was on the 'Advanced Track,' a slightly more difficult track, but nothing too scary. Francesca wanted to scout it first, so we took it easy again, with some speed bumps here and there causing the occasional scream from my female companion. As we went through our runs we went faster and faster! We knew there was a camera at the end of the track, so we posed as we approached the finish line, and got some great pictures that way. The last run was great fun, and I'm sure we could've gone on for quite some time longer because Francesca really got into it!
Unfortunately, the weather got worse after our last run, so we went to the cafe where Francesca enjoyed an apple cinnamon doughnut. This marked the end of our stay up in the mountains, as we jumped back in the Gondola and headed back down to the center of town. One of the girls on the bus down to Bluff had told us about a steak-night (1 pound/half a kg of steak for $15 NZD!!!), but we had forgotten the whereabouts of said steaks... We had asked around and nobody seemed to know what we were talking about. Our final hope was one of the locals behind the desk at the Info&Track where we had booked our luging. And huzzah! He knew we had to go to Monty's, a little bar hidden away in one of the less popular streets of town.
We got there around 18:00PM, pretty hungry and very ready for a huge steak. We placed our order of the famous steak, some garlic bread and vegetables and anticipated the arrival of our food feast. Wow, the steak was huge indeed! Francesca made herself some steak sandwiches with the garlic bread, but I just attacked the steak head-on. So good! The mashed potatoes with a mushroom sauce certainly helped spice things up. The meal definitely lived up to our expectations, and more than full we headed back to the hostel.
This morning had us getting up relatively early, because we had to switch rooms. It proved to be a good thing because the weather was great. Francesca wanted to see the Gardens, and we headed there first. I spotted a strange-looking signpost in the distance and walked over. Apparently the Gardens are used for frisbee golf!
Francesca and I had never heard of this sport before, but after a little practice we decided to give it a go! We grabbed one of the free frisbees laying around and started on the first 'hole.' A hole in this case is more like a large metal basket. It was great to see the park as well as do something a little bit sporty (more so for me as I had to run for the frisbees).
Due to the wind we did pretty badly, only scoring par once... It didn't matter though, as we had great fun doing it! Took us a good two hours to go all the way around, getting some welcomed sun in the process. The walk was followed by an iced chocolate (basically chocolate milk with icecubes and vanilla icecream), which tasted very good! Francesca drank most of it before I got to try it... :(
The day ended quietly with a little dinner for two, prepared by yours truly. We crawled in bed nice and early, because the bus would take us from Queenstown to Christchurch the following morning. As the alarm rudely awoke us the next morning around 07:00AM we knew that we had a really long drive ahead of us.
When the Stray bus finally arrived we feared not even being able to sit together, as the bus was crowded. However, they had left the last row unused, and Francesca and I ended up with the best seats in the house! Francesca laid down for a little more sleep as the dawn turned to day, and drizzle changed into sunshine.
Our first stop of the morning was a barren strip of land that had suffered from a hurricane a few years before. The local farmer that owned the land and lost most of his buildings due to the force of nature had gathered the scraps and built a giant ‘watchman’ that now looks over the land in search of new hurricanes.
Midday saw us pulling up in a town called Lake Tekapo. As the name suggests, the place is mainly famous for its lake. This particular lake is too cold for plants to grow in, and that is why the water looks emerald-green, not blue. We also walked into a little church where I took an artistic photo of a cross, combined with beautiful scenery. The moment of silence was followed by a walk to a statue of a famous sheepdog. The Collie Dog, as the legend goes, was able to follow commands given to it four hours before.
Unfortunately, stretching our legs ended and Francesca and I got back on the bus for some lunch. I’ve been making Francesca the most interesting sandwiches, with whatever food we have in our food bags. This has resulted in cheese, salami and jelly or peanut butter sandwiches and a few other unlikely combinations. With some chips and a sip of diet coke or milk, lunch is served.
Around two we stopped in another town, called Geraldine. Geraldine is apparently famous for the biggest sweater in the world, and a mosaic made out of the teeth of saws. We didn’t get to see much of either, since the shop was closed… So much for tourism in Geraldine! Fortunately, we did find a nice fish and chips shop where Francesca picked out two pieces of Elephant fish and a side of kumara chips, which went down very well. I also picked up a healthy smoothie from a place around the corner.
The last two hours of hour drive went by pretty quickly, and around 16:00PM we reached the outskirts of Christchurch. Our hostel was slightly outside the city center, so the driver dropped off the majority of the bus first, before taking us to our final destination. Francesca will tell you all about that!
1 Comments:
Hallo Lieve Henk-Jan en Francesca,
Wat geniet ik van jullie prachtige verhalen.Ik lees ze iedere keer weer. Prachtig.Wat zien jullie veel en eten jullie lekker.Jullie zien er goed uit. Wat een schitterende foto,s. Heel erg bedankt. Pas goed op jullie zelf.
Veel liefs Oma xxx
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