Day 6 – Hanging around Queenstown

We decided to explore Queenstown on foot. Began with a 10km walk beside the lake.

We grabbed some lunch at the many hot food stalls set up along the shore front. I chose a Brazilian BBQ sandwich and as usual, Wayne went with his old classic. You guessed it – a ham and cheese toastie!

We then did the iconic gondola. I wasn’t really interested in the luge but Wayne would have done it if Mark was with us. Again, we did a lot of people watching. Kids on their BMXs going up the gondola and then riding down the peak to do it all again. Brave souls doing paragliding and landing on the football field in the middle of Queenstown. Bungy jumping wasn’t happening but as our gondola went past, it was easy to imagine how terrifying that would be. Certainly not for a scaredy-cat like me.

Of course, my phone went dead as soon as we arrived at the top. Where are you, Donna? Luckily, Wayne took over photo duties.

We were both a little stiff from our walk so went back to the apartment for a rest.

Breaking Mark’s cardinal rule of never eating at the same place twice, we returned to Pub on Wharf. Wayne wanted the steak and ale pie I had the night before.

We had just settled in to ‘our’ pub – same seats beside the fire and TV, and first drinks when the fire alarm went off. They couldn’t find the source of the alarm so the entire pub and block were evacuated. We had ring-side seats for the fire engine arrival – which was quite prompt.

It was fascinating watching the event from the outdoor seats we had snavelled. Our entertainment was complete with the drinks we took with us during the evacuation and commentary from some fellow pub-goers, a couple from Idaho (Wayne managed to photo-bomb her shot of the fire engine).

The firies couldn’t find the problem so we went back in and ordered dinner and another drink. Wayne went to ask for a channel change to the NRL. He disappeared for ages and I began to think he had somehow succumbed to the mysterious smoke or gas.

It turns out that the ice hockey had been on and when the channel changed, he saw our new friend from Idaho put her face in her hands. He went over to make sure she wasn’t upset about the channel change. Luckily, her reaction was just coincidence and he struck up a ten minute conversation about the ins and outs of rugby league. Weren’t they lucky to have such an aficionado of the sport?

Wayne enjoyed his pie, I had the steak, the fire was warm, and the Cowboys were playing the Titans. What more could two Queenslanders want? After that game, we headed back to the apartment and finished the day chatting with our three beautiful children.

Another beautiful day in Queenstown.