I had to! Queenstown, New Zealand.

My memories of my time in Queenstown are at times much like my previous trip there, a little hazy. However, I will do my best to drag the details from the (gin & tonic) fog of my mind to share with you....

I arrived from Christchurch on a shiny Jetstar A320 vowing never to stay at the Kiwi Basecamp ever again. I was met at the cheery one room terminal by my oldest (as in length of time!) pal. 

Katy and I have been friends since we were babes in arms, our parents were neighbours, our birthdays are on consecutive days which led to many a joint party as kids and even more drunken ones as we have become older. 

I was in town for exactly that, our birthdays, her wedding anniversary and to meet the latest addition to her family, dancing baby Dylan. He gazed up at me from his buggy with the same piercing blue eyes as his mother, looked at her for reassurance, then turned back and wrinkled his face up into a grin revealing his four new teeth; my heart melted. 

Queenstown is a town of mountains and a big ass lake, Lake Wakatipu. It is also the centre if not birthplace of all kinds of extreme sports. Now, those of you who know me will be well aware that despite having pushed myself far out of my comfort zone on this trip, I was not about to fling myself off a cliff in the name of fun!

No, I had other things on my mind for Queenstown is also the home of the one and only Fergburger!  Ya, more food! Honestly, you have not tasted a burger meat or non meat eater alike until you have had a Ferg. Also, they have great way of being appropriate at any time of day, night or state of inebriation.  As a non meat eater, I mostly gorged myself on the “Codfather” consisting of fresh blue cod, beer battered with Ferg’s dill tartare, lettuce, red onion and aioli (in my case minus tomato and sometimes plus avocado). Yum!

My friend is something of a local celebrity having won Starry Eyed a live version of the TV show Stars in their Eyes performing as The Cranberries Dolores O’Riordan. Whilst I was in town, Katy had a gig as part of a karaoke show for St Patrick’s day. At the mention of free drinks, I volunteered my services, drunk being the only way you’ll get me to do karaoke.

We arrived at the Lone Star in Wanaka, set up, ate a load of nachos and I hit the Lindauer.

Suitably tipsy I attempted a rendition of Dolly Parton’s Jolene and Shy FX’s Shake Your Body. I don’t remember anyone booing, so I can’t have been all that bad!

The next few days were spent recovering and dancing with Dylan, who by now had become my best friend after mistaking me for Beyonce whilst we danced to one of her videos. May he never grow up to forget this! One evening, whilst relaxing on the verandah, I was struck by how shiny and bright the stars were, when I asked, “what’s that cloud over there?” “The Milky Way” was the honest response, I was blown away and from then on kept my eye out for shooting stars and was not disappointed when one conveniently revealed itself on the 22 March.

This year our birthdays were on week days so we rallied the girls on Saturday night and after gin and SingStar at home head into town. A jolly good time was had by all. 

After failing to do any real sightseeing on my previous trip, I decided to take a trip to Milford Sound. Milford Sound named after Milford Haven in Wales is actually a fjord. It is part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site and is New Zealand’s most famous tourist destination. I had high hopes.

My trip was delayed by a few days due to heavy rain having caused mud slides on the Milford road. When we left Queenstown, it was dark, but clear, as we drove along and day broke, it looked to be a nice day.  As we drew closer to Milford, the clouds gathered and it began to rain. By the time we boarded the boat for the 2 1/2 hour cruise it was blowing a gale and tipping it down. We set out anyway, assured by our driver that we would see many beautiful waterfalls, you think?!

I donned my foldaway waterproof and got into the spirit of things and was truly delighted when I saw some seals. It was a fun day with stops in Te Anau along the way, I might even do it again next time I’m in town if the weather is better. 

Before it was time for me to leave, Katy and I decided to treat ourselves to a birthday lunch, we went to Aggy’s shack and took home the seafood platter: 6 smoked mussels, 6 prawns, 4 battered scallops, 2 fish, chips and sauces. It was fantastic! I also took the gondola up the hillside and admired the view, nearly froze to death and came back down, that was  as extreme as I got!

My last night in Queenstown was spent trying to force all of the new clothes I had bought into my pack and then impromptu drinking in town.

Then, just like that, it was time to head back to Christchurch where I stayed at the very funky Hotel So.

Thanks to Katy, Paul, Dylan, Jane and Sue for a fab time and asking me to stay!