Welcome back and welcome to anyone new to this blog.
So far in New Zealand I've only writen about my experience of the North Island with one exception, Dunedin
If you remember from that post I mentioned that I was about to discover "the real New Zealand".
Well this is where it begins...
Queenstown
Queenstown was the first place I visited where the "real new zealand" began to show itself. It's a small town located in a stunning area, right on lake Wakatipu
Perhaps I was lucky when I was there, like many scenic locations it's all about the weather and the only day I had really bad weather was the first morning I woke up, but that soon changed, quiete dramatically may I add.
If you want to read the full story, I posted a blog about it a long time ago, although somehow it didn't get much attention.
Anyway, you can read about that here
Most of the time however the weather was sunny; and when the weather is good, the vibe is good.
The Town
The town itself is a small, quiet(ish) place during the day. I like the little green area's they've added despite already being surrounded by natural beauty.
The place can be a bit of a party town at night. The amount of backpackers walking around getting drunk is rediculous! But saying this, it's a very clean and well looked after town.
A random wine cart with no one attending it...easy money.
There's a famous burger place called FergBurger which apparently does really nice burgers. Whether this is true or not I don't know but the que to get in went down the road, so obviously a big hit with tourists! Word of mouth relly gets around quick these days thanks to social media.
Here's the que...
Yeh...I wasn't kidding
Going for a stroll
Queenstown is a beautiful place, the surrounding scenery is mind blowing at times.
I went for just a short treck into the woods nearby and got some really nice views just 20 minutes walk away.
After trecking through unexpected, pipelines, boulders and small cliffs the terrain finally opened out.
I couldn't quite belive the house where I was staying was so pefrectly located. After days of failed hostel and air bnb bookings, I ended up in a house with this down the road...
Next to the beach is a small park where you can play frizby golf which is exactly as it sounds but instead of a hole, there's a target with chains hanging which catch the frizby. I've not played it but I vet it's hard! However, if you walk around the edge of the park, you get to wittness yet more stunning views.
The Lake And Beach
First off, I didn't even know there would be a beach here...I mean the surroundings are mountains and greenery. Perhaps a stony beach but not this.
This lake, trully is the highlight of Queenstown. Looking over the lake is simply awe inspiring.
Beach Party!
Speaking of the lake, there's two activities which really stand out which I had no idea were there prior to arrival.
Fly Boarding- Where you basically "fly" like Iron Man as jets of water spray from your feet.
Hydro Attack - A speedboat shaped like a shark which also goes underwater like a submarine. I concidered doing it but after watching it fly all over the place, my stomach and I agreed to give it a miss lol.
I also considered Fly Boarding but A, I bet it's really hard and B, the water was freezing. I found that out after a brief morning swim.
Also, if you look up to towards the mountain you might spot some paragliders.
The Basket of Dreams
I had no idea this was here! I'd seen it on a post somewhere in the past. Probably facebook or instagram.
I was simply walking up there for hopefully a good view at the top. Little did I know the views on the way up were pretty awesome too.
I had no idea where I was going, just found a path to walk up and followed it. But then I came to this doorway.
Next to the doorway was a message...it read:
So I continued up the path which went from a simple path overlooking the town, to a windy path through the woods.
Finally, when you get near to the top you've then got to find it, there are no signs from the gate I mentioned earlier. But that's ok, I guess since it's a basket of dreams that made sense.
By the time I reached the top, the weather had changed. The clouds rolled over and the wind started to pick up.
I took a few wrong turns, one leading back into the woods but eventually, I found it.
The Basket Of Dreams
As I stood there overlooking the mountains surrounding the lake, I felt a sense of achievement.
No, not just finding the damn thing but everything I'd done up untill that point.
I was standing in the basket of dreams...living the dream, but I wasn't dreaming. I was really there! Thousands of miles away from freinds and family who were busy with their working lives. It felt pretty unbelievable to be honest.
After that I found a spot to take the picture I came up here for.
*Ruined by the weather, but whatever. Still worth the climb.
There was me thinking that was the end of the trail but there was another path leading...who knows.
Now it started to rain and from the looks of the clouds, I knew it was going to pour so I headed back to the accomadation. I got back just in time for a big downfall! 🌧🌪
There's alot more to this place than meets the eye. You need to spend at least a week here as I did. Queenstown is a great base to explore other places. What places you ask? You'll see in a later post...hopefully.
There is two more activities that really stand out here, one of which made me fear for my life. Can you guess what it is?...
I'll be posting about those next time.
As always, thank you for reading
I've not been posting recently as my @travelfeed app is not responding or opening at all. It's been nearly a year since I have posted without an app so I appoligise if the layout is really bad.
Also, I'd like to thank @travellingbug for her continued support of my blogs. (Apparently they're a good read)
Once again, thank you.