Jump off things! Jump out of things! Now now now!!!

It was boiling when I left Wanaka for Queenstown today, I spent the time waiting for the bus devouring ice-cream and getting slightly sunstroked by the lake (the bus was late). My hostel in Queenstown is the Last Resort, a tiny hostel with only 18 beds, just off Shotover Road -the main road full of shops, adventure-sport booking offices and home of the legendary Fergburger takeaway. You can do everything here from the terrifyingly awesome Canyon Swim, to river surfing, to, of course, bungy jumping. (To spoil the suspense, the only 'adventure' activity I did in Queenstown was the gondola ride up Bob's Peak. It was steep and high, so it counts (maybe)! And the view was brilliant, even if the 23$ price tag did sting a bit (I later found up you could hike the mountain road for free in under an hour, so there's a tip for anyone else going there).)

The hostel is a fun place, although the girl who manages it is so miserable and petty I only feel I can relax when she's left; she takes a 3-and-a-half-hour lunchbreak, and shuts reception at 7.30pm - and woe-betide you if you turn up at 7.31pm, no matter if she's still behind the counter - "reception is closed!". Still the people staying at the hostel are very cool, we spend a lot of time together watching movies and playing cards.

I'm not that taken with Queenstown straight away, the lakeside is really developed and it's really busy (and dirty) compared to Wanaka, but it's a buzzing place, a place it's probably hard to get bored in, and the stunning backpdrop of the craggy Remarkables mountains across the lake is a pretty a great view for a lakeside picnic, which I did almost every day.

I also visited Arrowtown, a slightly twee, preserved gold-rush town about thirty minutes outside Queenstown. It's cute and nice for a stroll around in the sun, but the old Chinese reonstructed settlement on the outskirts is much more interesting - the Chinese goldrush migrants had a tough time out in NZ, often made unwelcome and forced to scrape by the on meagre returns from gold-mining. The houses are tiny; it's fascinating to be able to go inside and imagine people living there in the tiny space, often with two or three people sharing.

written by

LizIsHere on March 8, 2010 from Queenstown, New Zealand

from the travel blog: New Zealand & Australia 2010

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