Catching Up

19 March 2011

I had to do laundry today which sucked.  But it got done pretty quickly and in the meantime I wrote some postcards and went shopping.  I didn’t buy anything but I might later.  

Then I went to the Queenstown gardens.  They are lovely.  The gardens are located on a piece of land that juts out into the lake so the garden is surrounded by the lake.  The upper part is protected from the wind so it is very warm and still.  This is where the rose garden, tennis courts, bowling greens, frisbee golf course, and skate park are located.  There is a foot path around the shore of the lake too and I got some great photos of Queenstown from the gardens.

I also visited a small farmer’s market on the greens of the church across the street from my hostel.  I bought a pain au chocolat from the baker and enjoyed it in the sunshine while listening to a guitarist play and sing.  Such a beautiful day today.  The sun was out in full force and the sky was so blue!

In the afternoon I took the bus to a little town called Arrowtown.  It was founded around gold panning.  The rivers around here used to be full of gold.  You can still find some here and there so a lot of the stores rent out gold panning supplies and you yourself can go panning for gold.  I just bought chips and ate them down by the river.  

I bought a ticket to see The King’s Speech at the Dorothy Brown theater.  This is a unique theater.  They sell beer and wine and cheese boards to go with your movie!  The seats are nice and large and comfortable.  When they sell you your ticket they assign you a seat like you’re going to a stage performance.

I wandered around Arrowtown before I went to the theater.  I was a little disappointed.  It was mostly eateries and up-market shops.  I like that kind of thing but since I wasn’t in the mood to sit in some fancy cafe nor did I have the capabilities of carrying anything I might want to buy, I just wasn’t interested.  Initially I was disappointed that I didn’t have more time in Arrowtown, but when I got there I was really glad there was a movie theater to go to instead of wasting my time with the shops.

I loved the movie.  They even gave an intermission which I thought was great.  This is the way to see movies!  I was really tired after the movie.  I rode the bus back to Queenstown with a transfer stop in Frankton. 

Back in Queenstown I decided to look for some dinner and buy a Queenstown pin.  I had been looking and looking for a little travel souvenir pin for Queenstown, but they were a lot harder to find than I expected.  I finally found a great one and purchased it.  Then I wandered around some more to find something to eat.  The problem was I wanted something really great, but I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to eat. So I wandered for a long time before settling on some Mandarin noodles.  

All in all I’ve had a great visit to Queenstown.  This is the kind of town that offers so many adventures you could never be bored, but it’s also such a beautiful place that it just makes you want to slow down.  I’d like to come back sometime and slow down here!

21 March 2011

I left Queenstown yesterday morning at 8 am.  We had a short two hour journey on the Stray bus to Te Anau.  After collecting all my stuff I walked to a little cafe/diner and ordered some breakfast.  I killed some time there because I told the Luxmore Hotel that I would be arriving at 12 noon or 12:30 and I didn’t want to turn up too early.  

The girl behind the counter at the hotel checked me into a room because they didn’t know about accommodation for me at that moment.  The room isn’t so great.  It’s pretty old, but very clean.

The sun was shinning so I pulled a chair out on my little balcony and sat in the sunshine for about an hour.  Suddenly my phone rang.  Jessica, my friend from Te Weheka, called me.  She is living here and working at a hostel for her accommodation.  We decided to meet up later.  In the meantime I took a nap.  I woke up to Jessica calling me telling me she was here at the hotel. 

We caught up over some tea at the Sandfly Cafe.  It was so sunny and warm that I really enjoyed it.  Plus I was with such a good friend that it made everything feel very comfortable.  She loves Te Anau and I’ve caught her enthusiasm.  We walked along the lake and then went grocery shopping together.

This morning I moved into my accommodation.  It isn’t great, but I won’t have to live here forever so I guess I’ll try to handle it.  I start my job this afternoon.  It shouldn’t be too hard because I already know the computer system I just have to learn about how this hotel does things.  Wish me luck!