With some wee houses
By the time we finally got to Queenstown it was already mid-afternoon, so we decided to just do a short tramp. Four of us from the group did the walk up Queenstown Hill, which was about 3 hrs round trip (including many view breaks and picture opportunities). Even though it was quite quick and easy and right near town, the views were rewarding. And what a blessing to have such a beautiful, sunny day!
The crew at the top of Queenstown Hill
It's important to enjoy the view from every angle possible
After our hike we had a pretty relaxed evening in Queenstown eating Thai food, watching the All-Blacks vs. Australia game at a bar, and heading to bed early to get a good start the next day.
In the morning, Ryan and I split off from the rest of the group, who decided to drive an hour to do part of the Routeburn track. Last time I was in Queenstown I had decided I wanted to try paragliding, so I booked the earliest flight at 10am. We did the 45 minute tramp to the take-off area (instead of paying for the gondola again), and I went paragliding! Ryan didn't feel like trying it, so he was my personal photographer :) After I met my instructor, we walked a bit to the take-off site, got all geared up, and before I knew it we were off! I had thought that I might get a little scared around the taking off, but I was surprised how natural and amazing it felt. Take off really was only about as scary as a chair lift, and once we were up in the air all I could think about was the breath-taking view. Paragliding really has to be the best way to see an area. The flight lasted about 10 minutes - we started up in the trees, flew over the luge track and then out over Queenstown. It's hard to really describe how beautiful was and I'm not sure if the pictures really do it justice... so you'll have to take my word for it. We did a few tricks on the way down (kind of spinning around in a corkscrew), then landed in a park, from where I took the Gondola back up to meet Ryan. I don't think I am at risk of becoming a paragliding addict (I think the price tag might ensure that) but it was definitely worth it and I enjoyed every second!
That's me out there!
Taking pictures with the GoPro mid-flight
After I warmed back up with a cup of tea in the gondola cafe, Ryan and I set off to continue our tramp on the Ben Lomond trail to the saddle. We had wanted to do the summit, which in the summer you can just walk to, but the snow this time of year unfortunately would've required some mountaineering equipment... But nonetheless, we had a wonderful tramp to the saddle! Just beyond the gondola, we turned to the other side of the hill and hiked through lovely multi-colored tussock. Encountered a few mountain goats along the way. Then we climbed further up towards the saddle, where it got a bit snowier and steeper. Right at the top of the ridge on the saddle, you can suddenly see over the other side out towards the next range of mountains! So incredible! I almost feel like I shouldn't even post pictures since they really don't do it justice, but just keep that in mind while viewing them...
View at the saddle towards the Ben Lomond Summit
Lake Wakatipu
Scenic lunch spot. Everything tastes better when tramping!
After paragliding, a great hike, and lunch with an amazing guy at the saddle, the only thing more I could have asked for was a little sun. Oh well, can't have everything, right? Definitely a great weekend in Queenstown, and soon I will post some panoramas from the hikes! And next weekend, I'll be farming for spring break on the north island, so look forward to some posts about that in the near future :)
No comments:
Post a Comment