I don't know how it happened but upon waking up this morning my room was even more of a bombsite! I soon found out it was all down to two people which was pretty impressive to cover the whole room in their stuff. To avoid any hassle when waking up I just packed a bag of stuff for the day and headed straight out, going downstairs to try and catch up with my blog which I somehow got behind on whilst doing the deep south despite the plentiful free WiFi. I also had to phone kiwi experience to change some buses which was surprisingly hassle free which made a good start to the day.
Today I didn't really have anything officially planned although I knew I wanted to do the gondola and luge, tying it in with a walk up the nearby 1748m high Ben Lomond. With not a cloud in the sky today it was the perfect day to do these activities. Before heading up I went to the bungy centre to book my bungy, something I would have regretted not doing. I also made a quick trip to the post office to send some long overdue things home, then heading through town on my way up to the gondola.
One of the first tourist attractions established in Queenstown, the gondola is a cable car system taking you up around 500m to the 800m summit of Bobs Peak overlooking Queenstown. With a glass surrounded car all to myself I was able to enjoy cracking aerial views over Queenstown below as I went upwards. It was fun wobbling the cart as well going up! When reaching the top I took a look at the viewpoint overlooking the town and surroundings below, before going past the cafe to begin my walk along the Ben Lomond track. En route I passed all the luging tracks and this interesting sign telling me distances to various places. I am closer to the north pole and south pole compared to London!
Heading upwards through a coniferous forest briefly I soon arrived at this helipad. I had previously spoke to these people who said they had reached this point and said they couldn't find the next path. I found it no problem after finding a geocache nearby. I then headed upwards at a rapid rate until I reached this ridge which I followed for a while. The views were already amazing from here. It did get a little precarious here however as I reached a point which was just rocks which I had to traverse across. Luckily I got across without falling off the hill and continued up and over this small peak, meeting up with this other path in the process.
A short while later after tanking past these people on this gradually climbing path, I reached a sign indicating an hour to the summit. It was very daunting standing at the bottom seeing what looked like just rocks, but I just went for it and soon met this Canadian who I walked up top with. It was a pretty challenging ascent physically because there were so many rocks to climb, and like usual everytime the top came into sight more mountain appeared. Eventually we did what felt like a loop of the mountain before one last push to the summit!
The views up top were simply stunning with 360 views over Queenstown and Lake Wakitipu one way, and towards the snow capped southern alps the other way. Despite only climbing the 1748m peak from around about 800m it was a challenging hike. There was this interesting trig point as well up top which told you what each peak was in the distance by an eye piece. Whilst up here what started with just a couple of us soon became a crowd as more and more people reached the top! Eventually after a fair while taking in the views I headed down, this time alone.
It took me little over an hour to complete the descent down Ben Lomond, randomly bumping into someone I met in Invercargill coming down! He told me how to use the microwave back in the hostel there. It was nice to take an alternative route back to the gondola after as well, this time going more through the forest instead of going up and over this peak. It was tough my legs though by the end due to the impact on my legs jumping off rocks onto gravel tracks.
When reaching the cafe up top over Queenstown I treated myself to a beef roll and chips for lunch, and also a long overdue first l&p which was actually really nice! It was then time for my luging session where I basically got 5 runs. It was fun going up this chair lift each time, getting plenty of photos before taking the scenic luge track first to prove I could properly use the luge effectively. Luckily I passed which meant I could then use the fast track on my next go's which was much better. I did misjudge some turns, crashing on occasions however. Overall it was a really fun and relaxing end to the day up top of the hill.
Before heading back to the gondola for my descent, I relaxed in the entrance area as there was free WiFi up top. It was also nice to look round the gift shop and also these portraits made out of jelly beans. When finally going back down in the gondola which was just as fun as before I returned straight to the hostel where it was nice to give the room some light for the first time! I ended up relaxing in here for a while.
Dinner this evening was a long overdue Fergburger which is a must do thing in Queenstown apparently. I ended up ordering the mr big stuff in the end which was 1/2 pound of beef with cheese, bacon, bbq sauce, lettuce, tomato, onion and aioli. It was the business despite a half hour wait, the portion being massive! From here the evening was spent in the hostel where I just did a skype session along with a good update on things. It turned out to be a late one in the end although it was nice when returning to the room to see nicely packed bags and a clear run to my bed, ready for bed.
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