18/02: Amazing Day in Queenstown
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
When I awoke this morning it was pouring rain. As we had no concrete plans for today, sleeping in was a welcome option. Happily by 10:30 the rain had stop, the sky was clearing and we were on the way to the gondola. Our motel is in a great location ---- walking distance to a supermarket, downtown, the harbour and the gondola. This is particularly important as February 16th was Chinese New Year ensuring that the town is full of tourists especially Chinese ones and every parking place is full.
I was hanging on tightly but I survived and made it to the top of the hill.
Looking down on Queenstown.
We started following a hiking trail and were rewarded with some amazing views.
There were a few goats wandering on the hill.
After an hour and a half of going up (a little bit of flat but no downs) we reached the saddle. This is whats on the other side of the hill.
We haven't seen a lot of wildfloweers.
Sitting on a bench at the saddle looking back at Lake Wakatipu. We started the last hour of the climb to Ben Lommand but after 15 minutes Ed called "uncle". He wanted to head back to the cafe at the top of the hill and have a beer. I would have pushed on but given that Ed is not totally over his cold I agreed to heading for a beer. The Heinekens (brewed in Auckland) hit the spot.
Another great view on the way down.
We tried to take a selfie before we headed down on the gondola. It is painful for one fellow to watch so he offered to take a photo of us. He did a great job.
Almost at the bottom.
The Gondola --- it felt a lot steeper than it looks.
The TSS Earnslaw on it's way back from a cruise of lake Wakatipu.
There's some extra photos on todays blog as there was a request for some photos of Queenstown.
Pedro’s House of Lamb is a take-away restaurant not far from our motel. They have one item on the menu “A whole lamb shoulder slow roasted to tender perfection. Made with locally sourced New Zealand lamb, complimented with garlic and rosemary, and served with a generous side of scalloped potatoes.” (stoken from their website) You can also get a salad and rolls. Pedro’s House of Lamb can be found in Aukland, Christchurch and Queenstown. It’s interesting that a restaurant can survive on one menu item. By the way it was really good. Fed both of us dinner, Ed will have left over potatoes with quiche for breakfast tomorrow and we have enough meat for three sandwiches.
It was a great day!!!
Couldn't resist doing this as it appeared to be the popular thing to do today.
I was hanging on tightly but I survived and made it to the top of the hill.
Looking down on Queenstown.
We started following a hiking trail and were rewarded with some amazing views.
There were a few goats wandering on the hill.
After an hour and a half of going up (a little bit of flat but no downs) we reached the saddle. This is whats on the other side of the hill.
We haven't seen a lot of wildfloweers.
Sitting on a bench at the saddle looking back at Lake Wakatipu. We started the last hour of the climb to Ben Lommand but after 15 minutes Ed called "uncle". He wanted to head back to the cafe at the top of the hill and have a beer. I would have pushed on but given that Ed is not totally over his cold I agreed to heading for a beer. The Heinekens (brewed in Auckland) hit the spot.
Another great view on the way down.
We tried to take a selfie before we headed down on the gondola. It is painful for one fellow to watch so he offered to take a photo of us. He did a great job.
Almost at the bottom.
The Gondola --- it felt a lot steeper than it looks.
The TSS Earnslaw on it's way back from a cruise of lake Wakatipu.
There's some extra photos on todays blog as there was a request for some photos of Queenstown.
Pedro’s House of Lamb is a take-away restaurant not far from our motel. They have one item on the menu “A whole lamb shoulder slow roasted to tender perfection. Made with locally sourced New Zealand lamb, complimented with garlic and rosemary, and served with a generous side of scalloped potatoes.” (stoken from their website) You can also get a salad and rolls. Pedro’s House of Lamb can be found in Aukland, Christchurch and Queenstown. It’s interesting that a restaurant can survive on one menu item. By the way it was really good. Fed both of us dinner, Ed will have left over potatoes with quiche for breakfast tomorrow and we have enough meat for three sandwiches.
It was a great day!!!
Couldn't resist doing this as it appeared to be the popular thing to do today.