On Sunday I went to get Mom from the airport, and that in itself was a task. Eoin had left the car lights on over night and the battery was dead by morning. Our landlady drove us into town, and while Eoin went to work I went to the bus stop. The bus was late, and so I was late getting to airport to get mom. We then had to take a taxi back to the apartment and the driver was nice enough to jump start our car. Mom hung out here while I went to work. Eoin came home in the early afternoon and brought mom to her hotel. We then went out for a quick dinner and discussesd the weeks plans before calling it a night.
Monday we did a double decker bus tour. The double decker bus is an import from London and brings you to the AJ Hackett Bungy Bridge, Gibbston Valley Winery and Arrowtown before returning back to Queenstown. It was a bit of a rainy day, so there was only one brave jumper at the bridge, but at least we saw something! The winery was nice, too, because I was thinking of doing a wine tour during the week. But we had our own wine tasting at Gibbston Valley for about $16 all together. Mom then bought 3 bottles of wine (did I mention it was 11 AM??). Arrowtown, which you might remember from an earlier entry, is a very scenic little place. We mostly just walked down the main road and poked through all the little shops. But it was nice anyway, and a good thing to do for a first day "adventure".
Tuesday was a bit more eventful. Even though it was still gross outside and rainy we went to the Kiwi Bird and Wildlife Park. It wasn't that exciting, especially for the price you pay, but if you REALLY want to see a kiwi then its a good place to check out. Mom thought Kiwi's were tiny birds like robins or something...but they aren't. They are about the size of chickens and they cannot fly. Just clearing that up for all you foreigners out there! After the park we went on a scenic tour of Lake Wakatipu, the lake Queenstown is situated on. The TSS Earnslaw is a steamboat that is fueled by one ton of coal each trip. The ride was about an hour long, and on the way back instead of commentary they had a sing-a-long. It was really cheesey, but the little kids and old people sure enjoyed themselves. After I went to work (4-8) Eoin, Mom and I had dinner at Hell Pizza (best pizza in the WORLD) and then went to the Minus 5* Bar. It is a bar made of ice, with ice sculptures, ice couches, and ice glasses. It was fun, but after about ten minutes it was kind of like, "Okay soooo can we go now?". Still, it is an experience you should do if you get the chance, very novel.
Today is Wednesday and so far it is the most action packed. It started with waking up at 7:25 AM and groggily getting into a taxi to the airport. We then hopped on an 8 seater plane, and took off towards Milford Sound. I didn't even puke, although I thought I was going to. I took a drammamine, so I fell asleep on the boat, but Mom had a good time seeing the seals and waterfalls and we even saw an dolphin! Crazy! It was the size of a whale, and swam right along side the bow of the boat. We then flew back to Queenstown where we ate some lunch and booked some seats at Haka. A haka is traditional Maori dance that tells a story using facial expressions and movement. If you want to see a haka, google it or even look it up on youtube, they are very cool and I am excited to see one tonight! We are also going to the luge, and to the grocery store and maybe even doing some laundry..the day just keeps getting more and more exciting!
Well, I know that you only come to my blog to see the pictures so...here you go!
Here we are, drinking wine at 10:45 AM. Can your day start any better??
Here is mom, re-enacting my now "famous" alpaca picture (found here:http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30775797&l=3cfae&id=49800283)
Here we are standing next to our airplane at Milford Sound. Can you believe we actually FLEW in that thing? Ridic.
