Queenstown, NZ

Wednesday, March 11

This morning we woke up in Queenstown at the Top 10 Holiday Park. Before the sun rose, I could hear charter busses pulling into the reception area of the holiday park and people loading up for various activities. Queenstown is known as the “adventure capitol of the world” and is the birthplace of bungee jumping, zorbing, jet boating and more.

Our family did not board one of those busses. Instead, I woke up early to workout in the community TV lounge and then we all drove into town so Andi could meet the brother of his friend Tiffany at a local cafe. Tiffany’s brother traveled all over the world with his family and now calls New Zealand home. Meanwhile, Tory, Aden and I sat in the RV outside the cafe and did school. Mom had an effective carrot to dangle in front of the kids this morning; the faster they finished their school work, the sooner we’d head into Queenstown to go lugeing down the mountain. By 10:00am, we were on our way. Aden has been excited to ride the luge since Andi showed him a video of it a few weeks ago. The day had finally come!

Parking was a nightmare around the Skyline Luge Park — not easy for Andi to navigate our oversized vehicle! Fortunately, we saw a sign for the Queenstown Holiday Park that said people who purchase luge tickets from them can park in their lot for free. That works perfectly for us. It was a short walk away from the Skyline Luge Resort.

Once inside, the four of us hopped into a gondola that carried us to the top of the mountain. This alone was spectacular! Gorgeous views of Queenstown and the lake below.

More breathtaking views from the viewing deck at the top of the mountain. From there, we watched someone bungee jump from a platform just below us. Tory didn’t think it looked very scary. I wonder if she’d feel differently if she was the one jumping!

After that, it was luge time! We grabbed helmets and rode the chair lift to the top of the luge track. Tory didn’t realize she had to jump off the chair lift when it came time to do so, and a bit of family drama ensued. Andi was telling her what to do, but she was confused and she started to cry. Suddenly, Tory said she was scared to ride the luge but we’d already purchased tickets and made our way to the top. The four of us waited there for a while and watched other riders zip down the track before Andi and I finally convinced her to give it a try.

Aden was dead-set on driving his own luge, despite the luge employee suggesting he ride with a parent. He was “just” tall enough though, so Andi and I figured we’d let him try it. He’s a pretty decent driver of all his cabin toys, so maybe he’d be just fine.

Tory was near tears after the first run. She said she was afraid (even though she had no reason to be because the luge was slow moving and perfectly safe). Andi and Aden decided to ride tandem and Tory and I rode together for our second run down the mountain. This arrangement worked much better for everyone and because we doubled up riders, we got several more luge rides in the end. Even Tory was having fun after a handful of times down the track.

By the time we finished, it was after 1:00pm and the four of us were starving. Andi and I decided it’d be easier to walk to a restaurant in downtown Queenstown than it would be to drive to one in the congested area. He paid to extend our parking time at the holiday park and we ended up eating at the first restaurant we came to — The Bespoke Kitchen. I wasn’t expecting much since we hadn’t done any research, but fortunately the food was fantastic! Andi ordered a breakfast platter which included avocado toast, chia seed pudding and a shot of kombucha. I had a rainbow veggie bowl with cauliflower, lentils, cabbage, avocado and a fried egg. We all split a piece of lemon cake for dessert.

I didn’t want to leave Queenstown until we’d officially “seen” it. The holiday park we stayed at last night was on the outskirts of town and this morning, we’d driven straight to the SkyLine Luge after Andi’s coffee meet-up. Andi and I were certain we’d play the price later, but we decided to walk the hilly streets of Queenstown into the town centre. We knew Tory and Aden were bound to complain, but deemed it worth the trouble. I’m so glad we did! Downtown Queenstown was alive with activity. From musicians performing on the street to various food and vendor stands selling trinkets along the waterfront, there was plenty to see and do. We especially loved seeing the Hydro Shark zip in and out of the water.

The weather was perfectly sunny and warm that afternoon. We walked toward Garden Square so the kids could play on the community playground. Not a bad swing set view, right on the lakefront!

After a few hours downtown, the four of trudged back up the steep streets to our RV parked at the holiday park. Andi wanted to camp tonight about 10 miles outside of Queenstown at Moke Lake.

The one-lane road driving into the recreation area was a tight one! Fortunately, we only met one car on our drive into the camping area and that car voluntarily backed itself down the gravel road. It was also stressful because Andi and I had our first real conversation about the Coronavirus pandemic and what that meant for our family traveling 14,000 miles from home.

Moke Lake was a quiet and peaceful place. We paid to camp for the night, then found a spot on the wide open pasture. Andi has had fishing in New Zealand on his bucket list, and heard Moke Lake is a great lake for trout fishing. As he readied his fishing pole, he took the opportunity to show Tory and Aden how to rig up a rod. They threw some practice casts into the field before we all walked down to the lakefront together and fished until sunset.

That evening, a DOC campground official knocked on our door to check we’d paid for our campsite. Andi and I were surprised by that! We had, in fact, paid for our spot to camp so it was no problem but given it was such a rural, open area for camping we didn’t expect to see a parks & recreation person checking the campground. The night was otherwise quiet at Moke Lake. Andi woke up early the next morning to try his hand at fishing again without luck, and then we continued on farther south to the small town of Manapouri.