Day 28: Queenstown - Queenstown

The luxury of staying 2 nights in the same place!

Bungee jumping, skydiving, jet boats, heli-MTB, scenic flights, flying fox, luge, water skiing, horse riding, canyoning, the list of things to do in Queenstown seems to be endless. They seem to be coming up with new ways of charging loads of money to help you risk your life every year. So what death defying adrenaline kick did I sign up for? None of the above. I went for a ride on my bike ;)

From Queenstown to Glenochry "along" the lakeside is 45 kms each way and it's a beautiful ride. Weather was perfect for cycling and the lake was almost perfectly still.

Got to Glenochry after just over 2 hours, had a coffee break then turned around and headed back the same way.

Sometimes when cycling you forget to stop and really take in the scenery, a thought that dawned on me today. So I took an extra break down by the lake shore and just let the amazing views and perfectly clear water carry my thoughts away for a while.

Back on the road I was slowly cycling up a long steep hill when I passed a Chinese girl who started to talk to me (that's how slow I was cycling!). Turned out Hanya hadn't realized she had 24 kms to Queenstown when she got her friends to drop her there. We chatted for a while then I recommended she should walk up to the scenic viewpoint a few hundred meters up the hill and get a lift from one of the tourists cars as they stop to take photos.

I rode on and was glad to see Hanya waving from a passing car about half an hour later.

Back in Queenstown I took a spin around town, dropped by the backpackers for a shower then headed back into town to take the gondola up to the platform that overlooks the surrounding area.

Magnificent views!

Back down in town I grabbed a pizza for dinner and noticed one of the pubs was having a pool competition. Why not, I thought. Back in the day (the late 80's) I was a bit of a pool player - even won a bit of cash a few times in the Lord Nelson pub in Holloway Road in North London. Not today! Beaten in the quarter finals. I blame the referee ;)

So with my unsuccessful return to professional sport over before it had begun I trudged back to the backpackers for an early night.

Thoroughly enjoyed the bike ride today but the "panorama of the day" goes to a view of Queenstown.