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***Warning: Photo-heavy post ahead!***

We started off the tenth day of our NZ holiday with a short photography session at the lake…

…followed by a hot breakfast at Tango’s Cafe where I had French Toast with bananas and bacon, while hubby had their big breakfast. As with almost all the breakfasts that we’ve had so far…it was delicious!

We took one last walk around Wanaka before heading back to the hotel to pack up. It was then when I noticed a trampoline in the kids playground right opposite where we were staying! I hopped over, kicked off my shoes and starting jumping up and down…first time on a trampoline! Wheee!! Got my socks all wet though…*grin* We were really reluctant to leave Wanaka…it’s such a lovely town…we contented ourselves with one final final stop before continuing on with our journey.

To get to Queenstown, we had two routes to choose from and we decided to go through Cardrona Highway as it’s the shorter of the two. As we left Wanaka, the scenery changed and at certain moments, it certainly felt like we were in the Wild Wild West! Not really surprising, considering that the history of Cardrona began in 1865 where hundred of settlers came to stake their claim during the gold rush days!

As we continued along Cardrona Highway, the wide plains gave way to cliffs and hills as we climbed higher and higher. We started seeing more and more snow again, and we finally reached the highest point, literally, of our journey: The Crown Range Summit…1,076 metres above sea level! The entire area was covered with snow, and there was an area where we could stop the car and come out to stretch our legs. I squealed with delight when I stepped out of the car…the snow came up till above my ankle!

Hubby and I spent a good 30 minutes there mucking around in the snow, throwing snowballs at each other, taking photos and making snow angels. As the sun was shining brightly, we didn’t even feel cold…although I got my undies all damp from sitting on the snow posing for photographs…hehe…

Finally, we decided it was time to go…we’d wasted enough time and we had a tight schedule to follow! It took us a good hour to descend from the summit (coz we kept stopping to take photos!), and as we went lower and lower, the snow was slowly replaced by green grass.

Before reaching Queenstown, we took a detour to Arrowtown, a town famous for it’s gold mining history. The town consisted of one long street with lots of quirky and interesting shops, one of which was a sweet shop that was packed from floor to ceiling with all sorts of sweets and candies. I was so overwhelmed by the choices (and the lack of time to browse around) that I actually left without buying a single thing! I managed to find a souvenier for a friend at one of the shops here, though (Jacjac, that’s where your little angel came from!). As for our long overdue lunch, we decided to have hamburgers at one of the cafes. I also managed to find a famous handmade chocolate shop, Patagonia Chocolates. While I was deciding which chocolate to buy, hubby bought a cup of hot chocolate to try. I had a bit…very thick, very nice! I finally settled on one piece of chocolate that had dried plum and walnuts dipped into dark chocolate (it was really good when I ate it much later…I should’ve bought more, but it was oh-so-very expensive!).

Finally, we made it to Queenstown. It was brimming with people and activity! The Crowne Plaza Hotel was easy to find, though the car park was situated at the oddest area…we had to drive up a super-steep (think 30 degrees!) slope before we could get to the car park entrance! Luckily it wasn’t covered with ice…imagine trying to drive up if it was icy! *gulp*

Anyways, the hotel room was one of the nicest we’d stayed in so far…two queen sized beds, plasma TV…best of all, we’ll be there for three nights!

As soon as we moved our bags from the car to the room, we quickly put on our gloves and coats and headed out again.

Where, you ask?

The original AJ Hackett Bungy jump site at Kawarau Gorge!

Hubby originally said he might want to try bungy jumping while we were at Queenstown…and with me being the devil on his shoulder egging him on…hahaha…he did! Naturally, I just stayed on the observation deck to take photos…*me chicken*. In fact, I think I was more nervous than him even though he was the one doing the jumping! None of the photos I took could be used as my hands were shaking too much to hold the camera steady. Pathetic, huh?

Anyways, as hubby followed the staff up to the bridge, I remained at the higher observation deck. There was a group of Taiwanese tourists waiting to watch people jump, and they were about to leave when the tour leader saw Eric walking to the jump platform. He immediately called out to his group in Mandarin…”Look look…someone’s going to jump, someone’s going to jump!”. They all turned back and rushed to the side of the observation deck with cameras in hand ready to snap photos. The tour leader then saw me there with my camera and asked me in English if that’s my boyfriend? I replied “No…husband…”. Then he excitedly shouted to his group again in Mandarin while pointing at me…”This is the wife!”. Mannnnn…the embarassment. I shyly smiled and then slunk away to the lower observation deck where there were less tourists.

As hubby was about to jump, the staff gestured for him to wave to the camera…and as he did so, all the tourists in the upper deck cheered for him! I teased him much later that there’ll be quite alot of Taiwanese showing his jumping pics to their relatives and friends…*grin* Anyways, right after he jumped, the two ladies that were standing near me commented to one another in Mandarin… “What a waste…all that money gone in a few seconds, just like that!”. LOL!!

With the excitement of the jump behind us, we headed back to the city centre to take more photos…

…and then, to search for food food food!! Since we had three nights at Queenstown, we decided to treat ourselves to a good diner at Lone Star Cafe. It’s a popular chain of restaurants found all over NZ, and as expected, there was one in Queenstown as well. We were lucky to get a table as the place was packed! The food was really good, but the portions were huge. Imagine portions for mains at Chillis? Well, same portions here, but it’s for starters! We ate till we were so stuffed…and then we ordered dessert (Pavlova - a famous NZ dessert)! Gluttons R’ Us… But seriously, folks…good food here! Photos weren’t too great due to the dim lighting…and really doesn’t do the food justice!

As we’d booked a one-day excursion to Milford Sound the next day, and with the bus coming to pick us up at 6+am, we decided to call it a night and headed back to the hotel for much needed sleep!