Twizel and on to Queenstown

Wednesday 15th

What a day. It was a lovely day from start to finish! 

I woke up early and watched the sun rise from my tent. After a pathetic breakfast of an apple and a piece and jam I headed towards Twizel to get a coffee to take down the road. Just out of Twizel I saw a sign for the Clay Cliffs and since I had no time constraints I decided to go for it.  Because I was in such a good mood already I picked up a young man who was hitching towards the Clay Cliffs. He was Tomas and turned out to be a lovely Canadian dude, also 25, who was in NZ for two weeks, after having spent the previous month and a half touring Japan and Australia. Our personalities instantly clicked as travel companions and I really enjoyed having th  new company. 

  

  

We hiked up to the stunning Clay Cliffs and as we chatted I found out he was also heading towards Queenstown so I offered to give him a lift all the way. Best decision ever haha he was such a nice guy and we had a load of great and interesting conversations, shared some good music and some travel destination tips, and as always it was also great to have some company and someone to share cool experiences with. He shared my enthusiasm for the incredible panoramic views along the road (but I guess who couldn’t?!?) and we stopped several times to take photos or just to sit and enjoy the view in the sun, or whatever caught our eye. 

 

 

We arrived in Queenstown about 4 and Tomas and I went our separate way to our hostels. I checked in and went to go find free parking to leave my car for a couple days, and found a place which was really close to the hostel (winner!) When I walked back into town I was so tempted to go back to the hostel and nap as I was quite knackered after the day; driving, new conversation, and hiking those giant cliff things! Haha however I decided to just go back and freshen up, chance my clothes and head out to explore! 

Queenstown - is this becoming a theme in NZ cities, or is it just me? - is a very walkable city. A small CBD with a long shore front and harbour with lovely big gardens that steer out onto a peninsula. I wandered for a bit in both direction from the end of the hostel road and when I realised that I was starving decided to treat myself to a really nice, slightly more expensive than I should have maybe but very delicious dinner! 

  

I know that I was not quite on a coast again - oh how I missed the sea - but on the edge of a bit massive lake will do. With this in mind I thought that a fish dish would be appropriate and found a place - The Public - that offered a beautiful stack of salmon with whipped tartar sauce and I also ordered a Kumera side salad. Oh my gaawwwdd!!! Best decision ever, it was slightly expensive at $51 but so totally worth it, and I can justify one-of splurges like then when I’ve barely spent a penny this past month on anything, far less on food! :) 

  

After dinner I walked along the shore front an sat in ththe sun listening to a young man busking with an acoustic guitar. Looking out on this view and listening to those beautiful melodies it was hard not to feel totally chilled and a very happy traveller! 

I sat there for a good while listening to the musician and then walked along and sat on the beach for a wee while till it started getting a bit cooler so I headed back to the hostel. 

 

Unfortunately the hostel just had a loud crowd in the lounge and very little atmosphere, and my room was empty of people so quite boring , so I messaged Tomas -my hitched from earlier - to see what he was up to, and when he said he was out by the  gardens watching the sunset it was hard to pass up the offer of joining him. We sat and chatted through a whole list of different topics and I really enjoyed his easy company and positive and chatty attitude. We walked home to our hostels after we’d watched the stars come out. It was really nice doing something I definitely wouldn’t have done if I had been on my own! 

 

Thursday

Slept in,as I forgot to set an alarm, for up and had a shower in my lovely en-suite bathroom (had a cheeky wee free room up-grade). I handed out to explore and do a bit of shopping for the best leg of my trip. I needed to get a few wee things like a camping stove, some camping cutlery/cooking stuff as I forgot to take any of that from Frances’s, and I had to buy yet another pair of new sunglasses as the second pair I took with me from home have broken. 

I Did a good shop at a nice big supermarket and got some easy to travel with food/veggies; cucumber, carrots, mushrooms amd some tinned tomatos. I got some pasta and rice as they last ages, and I got some bread and butter as that never goes wrong. I also got some more longlife soya milk and a tube of concentrated Italian herb stir in sauce (it’s just adds lovely flavour to a meal on the go). Anyway this is really boring info but some of you might be interested hahaha 

In the afternoon after I stopped back at he hostel for some lunch I did a wee but steep hike to the top of Queenstown Hill where the gondola goes up. It took me about an hour and a half and by the time I reached the top I was pooped and decided to take the Gondola back down; that was an overpriced but cool experience too. 

 

 

 

Back at the hostel I made myself dinner (I need to start watching my money as fuel is gonna cost me a fortune in the next few weeks) and waited for my pal Ruth to arrive! I also in that time chatted to a few of the guys in my dorm who were from London and such lovely blokes! And one of them got this beautiful tattoo done today!! How beautiful is it?!? Very! 

Side note : I’ve mentioned Ruth before in the blog; she’s a pal from home whom I met on Lewis playing Rugby, but she’s originally from Oxford living in Inverness now. Anyway we were quick to make friends on Lewis and I’ve really enjoyed meeting up with her in Wellington and look forward to seeing her again here! Seeing a face from home is a really really nice thing every once in a while, especially someone around my own age! 

I’m writing this while eating dinner as I know I won’t have time to write once Ruth gets here and we’re going to have a quick shower and head out for pints in Queenstown tonight!! Tomorrow she and I will travel up he road from Queenstown, via Wanika, towards Fox Glacier. Needless to say I’m very excited for our wee roadtrip!! 

UPDATE: Our night out was totally fun, as always, and although we got quite tipsy we had a really fun night!!