Makarora & Queenstown

14 March 2011

I thought this Stray thing wasn’t going to work out.  While I waited for the bus, Caroline told me that I’ll either love it or hate it.  Well, the bus picked me up about an hour and a half late.  Then I got on and people weren’t very friendly at the beginning.  Also, at our first stop people stripped down and skinny dipped in a lake as part of a dare game the bus group was playing!  People seemed rowdier than I expected!  It wasn’t until lunch that I started to think this might be okay.  People started to talk to me and warm up to me and that was great!

Tonight we are staying in Makarora which is kind of stupid since Queenstown is only 4 hours from Fox Glacier, but whatever.  We’ll get to Queenstown tomorrow.  We had a $10 dinner and then hung out in the restaurant talking.  I really had a great time.  I met a wonderful girl from Victoria, Canada.  I also met some girls from around Europe including Finland, England, Switzerland, and Germany.  We laughed and shared stories about travel.  It was wonderful.  Now I hope I can sleep in a different bed.  I slept so long in the same bed in Fox Glacier that this will be an adjustment.  The hostel is more like staying at Camp Killoquoa because the rooms are actually A-frame buildings with beds and a bathroom in the back.  I was expecting worse from what Caroline told me, but actually it’s not too bad.  It’s clean and that’s what counts the most!  I think Stray might be okay!  We’ll see what happens tomorrow!

15 March 2011

I woke up at 6:30 am to get into the shower before anyone else.  It was a beautiful morning and the stars will still shining in the sky.  I felt like I was camping.  

I went down and had breakfast in the little restaurant and one of the guys from the tour joined me.  It turns out he’s from Bellevue.  At 9 am we headed out on the bus.  We went to Wanaka.  It’s a cute little town on the lake called Wanaka.  In Wanaka I called to find out about the job in Te Anau, but the person I needed to talk to was busy.  I had lunch and walked around the lake.  Then we drove some more.  

This whole area reminds me so much of eastern Washington.  It looks so similar.  They even grow cherries, apples, peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, and wine grapes there.  In a couple of areas I felt like I was on Highway 2 headed for Leavenworth!  We stopped at a bridge so people could jump off it into Lake Dunston and then we stopped at a fruit stand.  I bought apricots, plums, and nectarines.

We then went to the famous AJ Hackett bungy stop outside Queenstown.  Here people signed up to go bungy jumping or actually went and jumped off this old bridge over the river.  We had fun watching our tourmates bungy. I did not book bungy jumping!

Finally we showed up in Queenstown at about 6.  Queenstown is very much a tourist town.  It reminds me a lot of Beaver Creek and Vail.  It is gorgeous with mountains all around and a large beautiful lake.  I walked around to find the church I’d like to attend.  I did find it, but they weren’t open.  

We all met up again at 7 and went to Fengburgers.  They serve huge burgers.  I just got the cheeseburger and then we all went down to the lake to enjoy them.  Most people went out for drinks afterwards, but I just decided I wanted to chill and go to bed early.  

Tomorrow I plan on calling Te Anau again to find out if there is a job for me or not. I also plan on walking around and booking myself some adventures to experience in Queenstown.