My Return to Queenstown
I woke up yesterday morning needing to move on. I asked Nick what his plans were and he was off to see Lesley at her friends house and also try to get his van sold at a car market somewhere in town. It was a sunny and windy day and I headed to Cathedral square for a coffee.
Considering my options over a latte and apple and blueberry muffin I knew I wanted to return to Wanaka and relax for a while. However, it also seemed a good idea to hit Queenstown again and meet up with Neil for some more well needed laughs.
The decision was made but now the day was wearing on so the buses to Queenstown would take all day. A quick call to Air New Zealand and I was booked on a flight at 2.40pm. I called Super Shuttle who said they would pick me up from the YMCA in 10 minutes so I rushed back to the hostel, picked my bag out of storage just as the man arrived with a van load eager to get to the airport.
A young American couple who had been travelling for 9 months were on board and we chatted about their travels and mine. They had a long trip back to the US but were looking forward to returning home. I am sure I will feel the same when the time finally arrives for me to go home.
Christchurch aiport is pretty small and an hour later we walked across the tarmac and boarded a twin prop plane, one hour from our destination.
This was the scariest plane ride I have ever had. The views flying in were magnificent but the wind threw us around like we were in a tumble drier! Whoops and gasps filled the cabin as we went up and down like a roller coaster. Thankfully we landed intact. Queenstown airport is small and I remember it from visiting the New World supermarket a week or so before as they are next to each other. A short shuttle ride later I was back at Southern Laughter hostel.
This time I was given a sweet room. A four bed dorm with tv, kitchen including an oven and fridge, dining area and comfy chair! Given the nice room I may extend my stay a few more days :0).
Neil was on form again last night. We chatted to a Japanese guy in his room who could not speak English very well but burst out laughing at everything Neil said. It was so infectious we ended up there for a couple of hours. We decided to pop out for some wine but stopped in for a guiness at Pog Mahones pub.
A few pints and a 12 year old malt later we moved on after chatting with a British couple at the bar for a while. The club we headed for was shut so we hit the 24 hour store for some food and then back to the hostel to eat. I tottered of to bed at about 3.30am. Yes my wish to have a few quiet nights is still a wing and a prayer away it seems. Then again, it is my own fault for coming back to where Neil is staying. He still has not found a job out here.
Apparently I am a “rich man” for chosing to fly here. Not so, I just needed to get somewhere fast and 4 hours after deciding I wanted to leave Christchurch I was at my chosen destination, you can’t beat that.
Now I am looking at the activities again. Tandem hangliding, riding in a rally car for 2 hours for $85, whatever you want you can do it here, as long as you have the money that is!
I like this part of New Zealand. It will be hard to head back up north again but I must and will make plans for that soon enough. For now I will suck up all that Queenstown and Wanaka have to offer and for me that is plenty.
Tags: New Zealand
