We arrived in Queenstown after a scenic drive over Haast Pass where the melting snow makes for some very pictoresque waterfalls.
Becky, Caylee and a waterfall
The weather was finally starting to feel like summer: Warm, clear skies, nice sunset. We met up with a friend of our two Canadian travel companions at an open-air bar concert. The band had only been together 2 weeks but put together some really mellow instrumental tunes which, much to my delight, often switched to DnB. One of the members use to play with Salmonella Dub, a well-known, Enzed (NZ) dub reggae group. So it was my first glimpse of local music royality. Great stuff. We then went on to a some crazy themed night in one of the clubs til early morning.
The next day, summer had left. and it rained and rained and then rained some more. So we just had a day of chilling out. The highlight was a delicious burger at Fergburger's. This was a spot that had been recommended to Alex way back in Geneva. All the produce was sourced locally and the result was probably the best burger I can ever remember eating.
The next day, summer had left. and it rained and rained and then rained some more. So we just had a day of chilling out. The highlight was a delicious burger at Fergburger's. This was a spot that had been recommended to Alex way back in Geneva. All the produce was sourced locally and the result was probably the best burger I can ever remember eating.
Fergburger, Queenstown... Hit
We continued the evening in some bar which had Guitar Hero 
- which is actually quite an addictive game, and the World Bar where cocktails were served in teapots with an optional straw. As a local put it to me, in NZ teapots are meant to be downed. Lesson learnt. The other cool thing about that place was that payment was decided with the roll of a dice (if you rolled 5 or more, it was free). So, many free drinks and a merry time.
We left Queenstown the following morning. But not without sampling the local speciality. The Kawarau Bridge Bungee Jump. It is the longest running bungee site in the whole wide world - 20 years and no fatalities. Three of us (Caylee, Alex and myself) signed up, got our weight written on the back of our hands - to adjust the bungee cable, and then got ready to jump. It was pretty chilly outside but the anticipation pretty much blanked it out of mind. I chatted to the crew as they tied my legs tightly - the dude had recently been to Lausanne. Got up, hopped to the end of the board, and pushed out as hard as I could, shouting 'BUNGEEeeeeeeiiiiiiiihhh' as loud as possible. It was like taking a dive from a high spot. Exhilarating, over quickly, and as soon as it was over I wanted to do it again. I didn't and we left for Dunedin.
- which is actually quite an addictive game, and the World Bar where cocktails were served in teapots with an optional straw. As a local put it to me, in NZ teapots are meant to be downed. Lesson learnt. The other cool thing about that place was that payment was decided with the roll of a dice (if you rolled 5 or more, it was free). So, many free drinks and a merry time.We left Queenstown the following morning. But not without sampling the local speciality. The Kawarau Bridge Bungee Jump. It is the longest running bungee site in the whole wide world - 20 years and no fatalities. Three of us (Caylee, Alex and myself) signed up, got our weight written on the back of our hands - to adjust the bungee cable, and then got ready to jump. It was pretty chilly outside but the anticipation pretty much blanked it out of mind. I chatted to the crew as they tied my legs tightly - the dude had recently been to Lausanne. Got up, hopped to the end of the board, and pushed out as hard as I could, shouting 'BUNGEEeeeeeeiiiiiiiihhh' as loud as possible. It was like taking a dive from a high spot. Exhilarating, over quickly, and as soon as it was over I wanted to do it again. I didn't and we left for Dunedin.
Queenstown on our departure, soon before Alex jumped off the Hawaraubridge for some Bungee Action
In Dunedin, I had a couple of 'connaissance' from the UK I was keen to see again. Leanne from the DTMH course and Kiren from Medical School. I was lucky enough to catch with both of them which was great. We drove up the Otago Peninsula stretching out next to Dunedin to check out the local Albatross colony, the only one in the world on mainland. We got sight of these magestic birds as they took advantage of the strong wind on the peninsula to glide effortlessly around their nesting areas. We did not get very close however as the observatory normally used to view the birds was closed for the nesting/mating season.
In Dunedin, I had a couple of 'connaissance' from the UK I was keen to see again. Leanne from the DTMH course and Kiren from Medical School. I was lucky enough to catch with both of them which was great. We drove up the Otago Peninsula stretching out next to Dunedin to check out the local Albatross colony, the only one in the world on mainland. We got sight of these magestic birds as they took advantage of the strong wind on the peninsula to glide effortlessly around their nesting areas. We did not get very close however as the observatory normally used to view the birds was closed for the nesting/mating season.
A shot of the great birds in flight, this was a close as we got.
East side of Dunedin Peninsula
Albatross gliding against the strong winds.
Next up was the Cadbury Chocolate Factory tour, which was so boring that Alex and I decided to do everything the tour guide suggested (such as 'Why don't you eat this Moro - candybar - now and we'll give you another'). This was a good game until I got the lady to ask Alex to finish the bag of chocolate that came with the tour. It was now a great game... 15 minutes later, Alex was left feeling a little ill but mightily triumphant.
Next up was the Cadbury Chocolate Factory tour, which was so boring that Alex and I decided to do everything the tour guide suggested (such as 'Why don't you eat this Moro - candybar - now and we'll give you another'). This was a good game until I got the lady to ask Alex to finish the bag of chocolate that came with the tour. It was now a great game... 15 minutes later, Alex was left feeling a little ill but mightily triumphant.
Alex, the tour guide, and me on the old Milk Truck. Alex eating a bagfull of nauseatingly rich chocolate bars in one go. No umpalumpas were sighted.
The slightly dissappointing chocolate factory tour was followed by the Speight Gold Ale Brewery Tour which was much more fun as the guide made us we go all around the brewery before unleashing us onto the free sample bar. We made sure we had a good taste of each of the six different types of beer, several times.
Speight's Brewery tour, making sure we really tasted the beer
I then met up with my UK contacts near the town centre which is known as the Octagon, because it is shaped like .... an octagon.
The most photographed building in NZ on the Octagon, Dunedin. Just thought I'd add to the stat.But it wasn't all good, I managed to completely mess up a booking for flights back up to Auckland. The lady at STA travel understood 25th when I said 21st of November. So she proceeded to make a booking, take payment, and almost issue the tickets before I noticed the misunderstanding. The changes cost us money and the next cheapest ticket was a day earlier, thus cutting short our time in Christchurch to one night only...
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