W/ Polie, have you seen Chris?
P/ Wic, last time I saw him he was heading to the study. He said that he was going to westart the New Zealand blog as he was bored.
W/ Oh, I suppose that will keep him out of mischief. Where are we up to? We stopped when we suddenly had to fly home for the lockdown.
P/ I think he said he was going to cover Queenstown. Stwangely though Wic, he took 2 of the exercise bands from the gym with him.
W/ Doesn’t sound good Polie. Let’s go to the study and take a look.
In the study….
P/ Wic, look here’s his blog pwinted off.
Queenstown, a Town of Adventure. Written by Chris.
We arrived in Queenstown after driving down from Wanaka. Not a long drive but we decided to stop on route and take in Arrowtown. But we didn’t even get that far before we had to stop for a photo shoot. The bear has to have pictures of everything! Like everything. It’s like he thinks he’s working for National Geographic or something. However, looking for a way to entertain myself I spotted a business opportunity. There on the side of the road was fence and on it were a lot of bras. There were thousands. No joke. All colours and a great variety of sizes. So here we were at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis and I was looking at a rich source of face masks. A little restructuring and…I was going to be rich.
But Wic and Polie were having none of it! Killjoys. They pointed out that the bras were for charity and I couldn’t touch them. I ask you, how many entrepreneurs have had to overcome opposition to achieve their goals? But, no, I was hustled back to the car and off we went. To Arrowtown.
Arrowtown is a town that looked like it was built in the gold rush…because, as I found out on arrival, it was. To my great disappointment I was not allowed to go panning for gold. So that was two sure-fire money-making schemes that got rejected by my fellow travel mates. I have to admit that the place was quirky, and, even though I was doing my best to sulk, I accepted an ice cream from Wic. I also pointed out to Wic that giving the bear a chocolate ice cream was not a cleaver move. Did he listen to me?
So, after cleaning the bear off, we went to Queenstown.
We arrived late in the afternoon, during rush hour. I love rush hour in New Zealand. We added five minutes to the journey! What’s not to like? Our accommodation was a ten minute walk from the centre so after unpacking we set out to get a feel for the town.
It was like nothing we’d encounter so far on our trip. Lots of lively restaurants, bars, shops and adventure opportunities—all things I approve of. So off we went to sample some of the mentioned. As we walked through the town we spotted an overlong queue which ended in Fergburger, a famous eating experience for lovers of burgers. I would have been tempted except I don’t do queues, especially long ones, but right next door was Ferg Bakery, busy but no queue.
I dragged the boys in and we came away with slices of some delicious apple pie all boxed up. I would be back. I mean, it’s rude not so sample all the pies, right?
So next day, what an adrenaline rush! First, none of those long walks the others seem to like were on the agenda—always a winner. We filed ourselves up on a breakfast of coffee (very good coffee Polie told me), granola and a tea cake. Then a wander through the shopping area, which was buzzing with tourists, backpackers and street entertainers. Down to the waterfront, because Queenstown sits at the end of a huge lake. From there we spent a while watching the various different speed boat experiences leaving the quayside. Because of Wic’s adversity to boats (he’s such a wimp) we elected to not go on the water but rather take the cable car up the mountainside to the carting track.
What a good decision. We pre-bought 10 rides each and climbed into the gondola. At the top is a concrete racetrack running partly down the mountainside. It is not more than two minutes from top to bottom, but those were some good two minutes! We took a chairlift from the gondola to the track’s beginning. Polie complained the whole way up that me swinging the chair was dangerous. That bear needs to live more. Then we had to listen to a dead boring introductory talk. I was so offended they though I needed to go through this process. Me, with all my expertise! As soon as it finished I was out of there and straight into a car. We were off, down a dip and into a chicane and…I had left the bear and Wic in my dust. I’m so good.
What I hadn’t counted on was their competitive spirits and some perverse desire to better me. The next nine rides were…interesting.
Then, after a lot of fun and laughs—and me clearly coming out the best—we settled down to watch the paragliding off the mountain. It look fun but I had an even better idea. Queenstown is famous for bungee jumping and that I decided I so needed to do. So when Wic and Polie were occupied I slipped off around the mountainside to the jump platform. I paid up and waited my turn, and just as I got to the front of the queue I heard, “Chris, what are you doing?” They’d found me. Too late. My turn. I sauntered to the edge of the platform and…oh my goodness it was a long way down. A very long way. I might have made a mistake. I paused, hesitated…and was pushed by the all to friendly attendant. Despite Wic’s insistence that I looked like a sack of potatoes falling through the sky I am sure I looked like a swan. Bang, the elastic cord bit in (some wedgie action may have occurred) and I was on my way back up. I’d done it!
And I am totally going do it again…
W/ Polie, you said you saw Chris come in here with elastic bands from the gym?
P/ Yes, Wic. You don’t think…
W/ Polie, this is Chris we speaking about. We live in a fourth floor apartment.
P/ Wic, I think we better get to the whoof, quickly…..
The Polie Pages 