3 Weeks in 30 Litres: Back in 'Town (Part 4)

Hey everyone! 

Things have been really busy here in Christchurch, but I'm really determined to finish this series about my three weeks hitchhiking the South Island. 

After our four days on the Routeburn Track, we made it to our goal: QUEENSTOWN!

Kim's parents flew over to road trip the island for the break and, with generosity I can still can't find words to describe, rented a gorgeous villa in Queenstown where they invited our whole friend group to stay for four nights.

What could be better than six of your closest friends in one amazingly gorgeous place? (I don't know the answer to that. If you do, tell me. Until then I'll go on entirely convinced I was in heaven.)

The house was a fifteen minute walk from QT's vibrant downtown. We couldn't have been there at a better time to see the gorgeous autumn leaves in full show-off mode. I'd definitely recommend visiting Queenstown in April; the tourist boom of the summer is on the downswing, the colors will knock your socks off, and you'd probably be sleeping inside anyway, so why not do so when the temperature is dropping? 
(If you're worried about not being able to take part in some of the things the "Adventure Capital of the World" has to offer, don't worry. Charlie and Claire got some AMAZING pictures of bungy jumping in the snow.)

Speaking of temperatures dropping, what cooler way to be greeted on our second day in Queenstown than with the season's first snow? Looks like the weather they were predicting the entire time we were hiking the Routeburn finally came in. 

           

Great excuse (as if we needed one) to huddle inside the coziest pizza shop I've ever been in and keep warm for a bit. Kim's mom treated us all to an incredible lunch at Winnie's, one of the most famous restaurants in town. 

Despite the biting cold, we all meandered around town for a bit, taking advantage of Queenstown's thriving bar scene and stopping in for warm cookies at the Cookie Bar. (The best kind of bar.)

While we did check out the real bar scene later, some of my favorite memories from the weekend were sitting around the big table at the house playing games with Kim's parents. I've told her probably a hundred times since leaving QT that I miss them -- lucky Kim and I will be living together next year! Can't wait for game nights when they visit. 

A quick note on the world-famous bar scene: if bar crawls are your thing, go for it. However, don't feel pressured into it by all the hype surrounding Queenstown's nightly crawls. Our last night there, the guys roped me into tagging along. I (literally) instantly regretted the $35 it cost to get the wrist bracelet. Ice Bar or no, I was so not interested in being carted around QT at someone else's pace to down sickly sweet shots.

Luckily for me, the gods were smiling and there were too few people to actually do the full crawl; after an hour or so of waiting for more people to show up, the guys who sold us our tickets came over and gave us a full cash refunded. Freedom! I couldn't have been more stoked. There are plenty of great places to enjoy a beer in your own way and at your own pace in town. If a bar crawl doesn't sound like your thing from the get-go, I can promise you're not missing anything at all.

It was actually the mornings, not the evenings, in Queenstown that I look back on most fondly. One of my favorite memories has to be waking up early to snap pictures of the sun rising over the Remarkables, the mountain range surrounding the lake. 

The villa was perfect for guilt-free lazy mornings to read and relax, two things that are hard to find time for when you're constantly traveling. 

When it was time to pry myself off the couch, the walk to town never disappointed. 

          

One afternoon, after we had all explored the shops enough and decided we didn't have the money or room in our packs to buy anything from any of Queenstown's hundreds of shops, we stopped into one of our favorite finds, an unassuming pub called the Red Rock, to share a few pitchers. Martin, my travel buddy from a few posts ago, stopped in to say hello too!

I have a fun story now. 

Just after Martin left, the quiet bar suddenly picked up a bit. (Correlation or causation, Martin?) A handful of athletic-looking locals showed up, all wearing the same name tags and red jackets. One of them looked familiar, and I realized that Charlie and I had stopped and chatted with him partway through our climb up Conical Hill on the Routeburn. 

We recognized each other and got to talking; Luc was a private guide on both the Milford and Routeburn Tracks, and has plans to travel to the states at the end of next month to develop the app he created. Damn. 

We had plenty to talk about, and when my friends had dropped enough on pitchers (which were actually quite reasonably priced), they decided to head home. At this point, Luc asks if he can take me out to dinner. 

Travel advice: when cute local boys want to show you their favorite restaurant, say yes. 

I let him take care of ordering.

Which, as you can see, was a good idea.

After dinner (which lasted nearly five hours) we made plans for the following day, as well as for the next week; right in the middle of our conversation about Kepler, which as that point I thought I was doing alone, he booked the huts and made plans to join me. Things move quickly in New Zealand. 

First things first: before Kepler, we had some local exploring to do in Arrowtown, about twenty minutes from QT.

After an awesome brunch at the villa, we set off.

For second breakfast. 

And I wonder why I'm gaining weight in New Zealand.

If you're ever in Arrowtown, and I hope you are, definitely plan to brunch or grab a coffee at the Chop Shop. It's tucked away in a little corner and I never would have found it if Luc didn't know right where to go. Finding it is half the fun, so I'm not going to tell you exactly where it is. (Also I can't really remember.) Good luck!

Luc and I had plenty to talk about but, as in most cases with me, our conversation revolved mainly around food. The app I mentioned he started is actually dedicated, appropriately, to food. Check out The TOOT Project to see how Lucas is connecting people who love to eat to the exact farms their food comes from. Pretty darn cool, if you ask me.

After (second) brunch we meandered around the historic section of Arrowtown along the river. 

There's a reason they call it the town where history meets nature.

As we were leaving, I had to stop to take a few really quick shots of this amazing hillside of deciduous conifers. Ever since the first week of my forestry course here I've developed an insatiable curiosity about all things related to trees; I can't walk anywhere without trying to figure out what species line the streets or trails I'm on. My guess is that the hillside in the picture above is covered with dawn redwoods (a super kick-ass deciduous conifer), but I have no real idea. Anyone who's been there know for sure? 

After an awesome morning in Arrowtown, I returned to the house to find no one home. While being locked out may sound inconvenient, it was a great chance to explore the rest of the Frankton Trail, which the house happened to sit behind. It's a nice trail to walk, but would have been even better with a bike. Going slow on foot, however, meant finding some really incredible trees that begged to be climbed:

Returning to the villa for our final night, we were greeted with one of the most amazing views yet: a gorgeous sunset over the appropriately named Remarkables. 

(Not to be that guy, but no edits guys. Seriously.)

Thank you again to Kim's wonderful family for providing the most fun, relaxing, and gorgeous stays in Queenstown I ever could have asked for. There's no way I would have been able to explore this beautiful area for such a long period of time if I had been staying in a hostel or my little tent. (Which is definitely not rain-proof, let alone snow-proof.) 

Time for me to finish (okay, start) packing for my flight up Wellington today! Stay tuned for the post I've been most excited to write: my Kepler Curse. 

Cheers everyone!