Queenstown, New Zealand: Part 2

Back to Queenstown we go! After having breakfast at a café in Fox Glacier, we drove over to the glacier viewpoint area. We snapped a few pictures and then got back in the car and drove three hours back to Wanaka. We picked up Subway sandwiches and had a picnic by the lake just like we did a few days ago. It’s such a nice area, we figured why try to beat such a great experience. While we were eating lunch we saw five teenage girls hanging out on the dock. Two of them started taking off their shirts and then dared each other to jump in the freezing cold water. They both held hands and jumped in. They must have been freezing because I was totally layered up nice and dry and I was cold. One of the girls even jumped in a second time and was asking tourists to join her. Crazy teenage NZ kids. When we were finished with lunch Tyson wanted to play on the playground for a few minutes before hitting the road back to Queenstown.
Along the way, while we were driving I saw like 100 bras along a fence out in the middle of nowhere. I made Marshall turn around so I could get a picture with him wearing one. Haha! When we got into town we checked into the hotel and then Marshall went to the grocery store to pick stuff up for dinner. We made a nice home cooked meal of chicken, rice and broccoli. FYI, pretty much every hotel/motel in New Zealand has a kitchenette which is so awesome. Definitely a nice thing to have to do some home cooked meals and save a few bucks along the way.

The next day was really rainy so we spent most of the day hanging out at the hotel. We got our laundry done which we do about every 5 days. We also borrowed a few movies from the hotel to watch. Definitely nice having some days where we just relax in the room and don’t do anything too crazy.
The following day we did a little day trip to a town called Glenorchy which is about 45 minutes from Queenstown. Apparently some scenes from the Lord of the Rings was filmed there. The town is so tiny. There were like 3 cafes and that’s about it. We walked into all three to check out the menu. For whatever reason all of them had their doors wide open and no heat on so it was like 20 degrees inside. How the heck am I supposed to eat in those conditions? Sheesh! We ended up walking back to the first one because it had a table outside in the sun that was at least bearable to sit at. The food was actually quite good too.

After lunch we walked over to a nearby lake. Tyson was enjoying throwing rocks into the water. After a while we walked out onto the dock and admired the beautiful view while also taking a few selfies. I’d say we’ve mastered the selfie along this trip (without using that hideous selfie stick, lol). When we were done playing by the lake we jumped back in the car and drove back to our hotel. We just had some leftovers for dinner and called it a night.

The next morning we checked out of our hotel and drove over to the gondola in town. It was a beautiful sunny day so we knew there would be a great view at the top. After about a 10 minute scenic ride to the top we got out and walked around the area. There was another luge coarse like the one we did in Rotorua. Marshall wanted to do it to see how it compared to the other one. He went down the amateur course first, which they make you do if you’ve never been there, and then the advanced course twice. He said it was awesome although the course was much shorter than the one in Rotorua, but great views of the lake. He got a video of most of the advanced course, which is pretty cool. Tyson and I sat in the café and shared an apple crepe while we waited for Marshall to finish.

After coming back down the gondola we got back in the car and drove two hours to a town called Te Anau. We saw a Chinese Restaurant that sounded amazing for lunch. We all shared a few dishes and sipped on some tea. Meanwhile, Tyson spilled rice and sugar all over the floor. Sorry person who had to clean it up! When we were done with lunch we went to our hotel to check in. There happened to be a park close to the hotel so we took Tyson over to it to get out some energy. They still have some things up from the 70s that are made of rusty sheet metal and are falling apart. We kept Tyson far away from those, but we could tell it was the teenage hangout area since you could climb in there and no one could see what you were doing inside. We talked to a local who said they’re going to rip those down soon and update the park. Good thing, we were wondering what those crazy town folk were thinking, lol.

When we got back to the hotel we turned on the TV and the only good channel was American music videos. We all enjoyed dancing around the hotel room jamming out to the music. When it came time for dinner we didn’t feel like making dinner or sitting down at a restaurant to eat so we just picked up Subway sandwiches for Marshall and I and then a roast with vegetables at a different restaurant for Tyson. We noticed there was a small movie theatre in town that played just one movie which happened to be Everest. Marshall really wanted to see it to see how it compared to the three other versions he’s seen throughout the years of watching Discovery Channel and what not, so I hung out with Tyson and put him to sleep while Marshall went to see the movie. He said it was pretty decent, but nothing to write home about (full stop).

Tomorrow we’re heading two hours to our next destination.
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Next stop: Milford Sound