Queenstown: the Adventure Capital of the World

Queenstown was always a definite in our plans. It's known as the adventure capital of the world because it offers so many extreme sports. It's also where Bungi jumping began. We left Arrowtown on the 6th and arrived in Queenstown late afternoon. We finally found the Black Sheep Lodge to stay at because it would be difficult to find somewhere we wouldn't be fined for sleeping in the car. We jumped right into the craziness of Queenstown.

After talking to our other hostel roommate, an Israeli girl named Segal, she told us about this famous burger place called Fergburger. We decided we wanted to try it before heading to an ice bar. I ordered just a regular burger with Bree cheese not expecting a big deal. OMG it was delicious! They were really big and they had a fantastic sauce. Elyse got a Cajun Chicken that she liked and Lannette was able to finally get American Bacon on her burger (quite an accomplishment). Overall, we were all extremely happy and I've decided they are the BEST burgers in the world.


Then we wandered over to the ice bar. The fact that Lannette and I wanted to go to a bar named Minus 5 blew Elyse's mind (she's from Michigan, she doesn't understand we've never been that cold as Californians). She came nonetheless. We had to wear parkas and only could stay in for 30 minutes or so. We found out it was actually minus 7.7 that night. The bar was ice, the cups were ice, and there were ice sculptures everywhere. We each got a drink and a shot with our entrance fee and they made an incredible mixed passionfruit drink.

The morning of the 7th was the first night we had slept in since leaving for the Road trip. While I was getting ready for the day, Jill in the reception of the Black Sheep had convinced Lannette to do the Shotover Canyon Swing the next day. Then Lannette convinced Elyse, who then decided with Jill that we were all going to do it. Somehow in the 30 minutes I was showering and getting ready, I was going to go on this swing. Jill signed me up without me saying yes and then looked at me and said "cash or credit?" The only way I was going to pay to jump off a cliff, was if someone was going to do a LOTR horseback riding tour with me. Elyse agreed to and so we planned the next day starting with the Shotover Canyon Swing, a LOTR horseback riding tour, and a pub crawl that night. So we decided we should relax today.

We chose to go luging that day. This meant taking the gondola up to the top of a hill overlooking all of Queenstown. From there you could either enjoy an incredible buffet, see a Maori show, paraglide, bungi/swing, or luge. We got our helmets and jumped on the ski lift to take us even higher. We had to go on the scenic easy route first. The luge was basically this big plastic thing that we sat in with our legs in front of us. It had handles that you pulled back to go, and if u pulled all the way, it would stop the luge. Then it was time to go.

We got 5 rounds each and it was so much fun. There were twisting turns and hills and tunnels. I felt like I was a little kid all over again whipping around corners to try to pass Lannette or Elyse. The harder route was even more fun with hills so high I thought I was going get air and sharp turns that may have wiped me out.


Once we caught the gondola back down, we wandered through the Botanical Gardens which had really cool trees and rose gardens.
Then it was time to retire back to the hostel and prepare for the following day. And by prepare, I meant watch the Fellowship of the Ring to know what we were going to be looking at on the horseback riding tour the next day. Also to distract me from the cliff jumping the next day...