On to Queenstown - 6th Dec

We left Omarama for Queenstown after a gourmet breakfast that would not have been out of place on a Masterchef episode, (well, if John Torode and Gregg Wallace ever decided to ask the contestants to be as creative as they could be with two eggs, bacon, muffin and fresh chives).

Deciding to take the long way via Wanaka, an up and coming sister town of Queenstown, we did not have time to go to one of the area's local star attractions:

Once in Wanaka we had a walk along the lake front and then went to the tourist information. Having not been online for a couple of days we took the opportunity to spend 15mins logging on and checking emails.

Not a bad view whilst waiting for emails

Early afternoon was filled by a trip to Puzzleworld. A great place just out of town that apparently was home to the first two story maze as well as a myriad of optical illusions. We cracked the maze within the allotted time – just.

"Now that's magic.."



Forget the clock, who is going to stop the bus from
rolling down the hill?

Leaving Wanaka, we took the scenic mountain pass road to Queenstown, soaking in the spectacular views, before making our way to the apartment we had booked.

After moving to an apartment free of scaffolding, we headed out to pick up some food for dinner. We had pasta, chorizo, vegetables in a tomato sauce; it was so nice to eat something prepared by ourselves and not involving anything heavily fried. We decided on Pasta as the day after tomorrow we would be starting on the Routeburn Track, a three day hill walk, and so thought a good dose of Carbs could only benefit.

It did not take long to remember why we loved Queenstown the first time we were here in 2005. Despite what people say, in our opinion the adrenaline-filled activities and the associated numerous booking offices do not spoil what is a lovely little town in a beautiful location.

The view from the apartment was not to bad either....