After our stop at the bungy center, we checked into our accommodation for the night & had some time to kill before meeting at the bar next to the hostel with our entire bus. Ian, Jenny, Sina, & I headed straight to the world-famous Fergburger to try one of their burgers touted by CNN as the "Best Burger in the World." I got the "Cockadoodle Oink," & it was everything it had been hyped up to be. Unfortunately, I couldn't compare it to the Fat Tui, as I'd had two different meats but I'm fairly certain Ferg could win all-around. We then meandered down to the lakefront & relaxed in one of the beautiful trees with changing colors, chatting until it was time to get ready for the evening's festivities.
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| The "Cockadoodle Oink" (no lettuce, of course) |
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| Exploring the waterfront |
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| I don't know what kind of trees these are but I want them all!! |
I say "get ready" very lightly, as most of us only had traveling clothes...but I put on mascara. That counts, right? We began with drinking games in Ulrik's room, which jump-started a crazy night. After two shots of whiskey, two shots of gin, half a bottle of wine, & at least seven beers, I headed down to the pub with my crew, & we danced & laughed & drank to our heart's content. We began at Loco next to Base Backpackers then headed to The Find for the promised teapot cocktails. Sadly for me, it wasn't a uni town, & they wouldn't tolerate getting uni drunk. Therefore, I was not served at "The Find." :( No, family & friends, I was not causing a scene or starting fights, I was simply "too hyper & needed to drink water for a while." Haha...so after pouting with my water, I decided it might be time for bed & bless Ian for putting a full water bottle into my bed with me. And for that matter, bless being 22 & still being able to bounce right back.
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| It was a girl picture until two of the guys were on our side of the room. |
The next morning, I slept in while some of the group went for bungy jumps & canyon swings, then woke up & got dressed in time to eat some pizza at Badger's then take a hike with Ian & Jenny. They both wanted to luge at the top of Queentown Mountain, & the dreary weather didn't deter us in the slightest ! Taking a gondola ride to the top was an option but I had decided to walk both ways regardless, & the three of us ended up taking the cheapest & most scenic route. It was foggy & rainy to the point that the woods looked quite scary at points but we really enjoyed the hike up, drizzles & all. It was hilarious at the top to find a sign of what the view would look like on a pretty day...& what our view actually was. That night, we ate at Fergburger's competitor - Devil Burger. This time, I opted for a venison burger with plum chutney & kumara patties. It was again delicious but didn't beat Fergburger OR The Fat Tui, in my opinion. We decided to spend an evening in after a crazy night before, so I managed to catch up with Game of Thrones & spend some quality time socializing in the hostel lounge.
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| Ian on his throne ! |
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| Frodo & the ring made entirely out of jelly beans! |
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| What the view is supposed to look like & what the view looked like - hahaha |
My last full day in Queenstown, 22 April, I got up early to say goodbye to Jenny, Ronit, & James, who were leaving to head north. Then, I went for a run down by the lake & found a trail that provided beautiful scenery. My heart is always so happy in the fall, & NZ has been the most perfect way to kick off this incredible season. I have been so filled with joy every day, just being alive & breathing the fresh air! It is incredible. I had decided to take this day as "me day" to run some errands & call my mama. After a long conversation catching her up with all of my NZ adventures & hearing what she & Sadie have been up to, I headed to the Salvation Army to replace my jeans that had ripped early in my trip. Then, I tried on a million things I can't afford, disappointed some salesladies, & quickly became bored with my "me day." The day had turned from clouds into crisp, sunny skies, & I gladly stumbled upon Martyn, drinking alone in a beer garden. I joined him for a Guiness then we headed down to check out the casino (at my suggestion, of course). I proceeded to lose $100 (the second dealer was a jerk!!) then drank a few more with Martyn in the casino. We finally met up with Bethan then headed back to Fergburger to meet Bram & Ulrik, who had returned from an out-of-town shopping trip. That evening, the boys went out again, while Bethan, Ian, & I relaxed before Ian's & my early departure down south the following morning.
The start of my Deep South trip was the start with another new bus driver, Splash. Splash was probably my favorite of my bus drivers so far although I've been SO lucky to have such amazing & crazy guides. Splash was absolutely. off-the-wall. crazy. He laughed at all of his own jokes on the speakers, did donuts in gravel lots in the bus, drove off & left annoying people, constantly performed brake checks, tried to race cars beside us, & got into water fights on the bus with people. He used to have dreads but cut them off & sewed the old dreads into a hat that he still wears. He just made everything so fun & unexpected, & he also really loved his country & showing off where he was from. We first headed to Milford Sound (incorrectly named: it's actually a fjord), which was beautiful. I definitely need to look at some ugly things for a while though because I've noticeably begun to appreciate beautiful things less. At Milford Sound, I found myself thinking "eh, it's alright," then I checked myself & was astounded I could have even thought that in such a beautiful place...I've been seeing entirely too many beautiful things on this trip, it seems.
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| Wonderful Charlotte & me! |
That night, we headed to Gunns Camp, which is a remote Stray-only stop. Although it was a incredibly fun night, this is the only of the Stray-only stops that I really could have done without. The camp could have been quaint, I guess, but our only power was between 5-10 p.m. from a generator, & the sand flies were too bad to tolerate being outside. Our little huts were cramped & heated with wood stoves, & of course filled with sand flies...& for this, we paid $28/night - the same as in Queenstown. That being said, we had a helluva time! Splash cooked a delicious barbecue on our first night of steaks & lamb & ribs - mostly meat & little veg, my favorite ! Also, we had been forewarned to get canned beer, so we could play wizards - where each can you finish is added to the top of your wizard staff, & you can order around people with staffs shorter than yours. My 12-pack turned out to be inadequate, & I don't think I've ever drunk 12 beers so quickly without being sick or else hungover the next day; I was neither. We then had a wizard staff battle in the lawn (resulting in several bloodied/bruised fingers & body parts) & called it a night soon after.
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| Wizards |
On the following morning, 24 April, we headed toward the southernmost point in New Zealand to our night's accommodation in Invercargill. We arrived early enough that everyone had an option to take the ferry to Stewart Island (known for its undisturbed native wildlife) but I, along with Ian, Emma, Debbie, Paul, Ilias, & several others, decided to stay in Invercargill. We took a trip to Pak-N-Save then cooked delicious dinners in the nice & clean kitchen; I made chicken, steamed green beans, & mashed cauliflower. Then some of watched Into the Wild in the communal lounge & had an early night in preparation for our next overnight stop again in Queenstown. The following morning, I went for a run in Invercargill (not much to see haha) then we headed to explore some of the beaches & wild areas in the deep south while the Stewart Island group finished up.
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| Invercargill |
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| Our backpackers' in Invercargill surrounded by beautiful trees |
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| Found this...& then it became my new shot glass ! |
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| Debz |
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| & then Charlotte fell asleep around me. |
After a busy morning & afternoon, we got the rest of our group from the ferry terminal & headed north again to Queenstown. This bus ride was booze cruising at its finest, as we played drinking games & began the Queenstown pregame. That night, we met the bus out at Buffalo's, again near the hostel. It was so nice to be back in Queenstown, & I saw two Swedish friends, Maria & Maja, who I'd loved from my North Island bus. I also ran into Adam, who had left our group in Wanaka, & there were countless others I got to reconnect with, which was amazing. Maria & Maja had joined a pub crawl, as they were now in a campervan, so I decided to go with them along the pub crawl route. We went to several pubs including Winnie's, which was the craziest, then ended the night at The Find; this time, they even served me drinks ! I also met an Australian guy on their crawl who lives in Sydney, & we exchanged contact info to hang out once I'm back in the city. The three of us girls split a late-night Fergburger & chips then I said goodbye to these great friends & the great city of Queenstown.
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| So sad that I look awful but it was so nice to see Maja & Maria ! |
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| Late-night Ferg queue |
Next up: Queenstown headed north!
Cheers,
Alli
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