After a long day of travel the previous day it was really nice to have a slow start to the morning. We stayed in bed, caught up on Jeopardy and slowly got ready for our first full day of our holiday.

Once we were ready we headed off to the town centre of Queenstown. The first thing we noticed was how difficult it was to find a parking spot in QT. We did a lap of the town before we came across a car park with a few spots. The walk from there to our breakfast destination included a nice creek with a cool bridge. The second thing we noticed was how cold it was this morning. It was icy and Ronnie changed from shorts to long pants before we even got to breakfast.

For breakfast we went to The Bakery Queenstown. We really love a bakery breakfast more than a sit down big breakfast. Mainly because we can do a good bacon and eggs at home but don’t go to the trouble of making breakfast worthy baked goods at home. Aimee went with a classic sausage roll even after having one yesterday. It’s just a good, satisfying brekkie. Ronnie went with a hot option too because of the cold weather and ended up with a potato pie. He quite liked it, not amazing but satisfying. We also both got cappuccinos but didn’t rate them much.

When we were finished eating we drove to our first activity for the trip – disc golf. When we arrived at the course located at Queenstown Garden we were looking for our backpack with the Go Pro in it and realised we’d left it back at the bakery! This is usually something Aimee would do but this was Ronnie’s mistake this time. Aimee’s been kind about it although he’d never let her live it down if it was her fault haha. Anyway, we rushed back there, Aimee jumped out to grab it and it was untouched. Thank goodness!

We headed back to Queenstown Gardens, rented our frisbees and started the 18 hole course. We specifically bought a frisbee to practice at home but it was even harder than expected. It was incredibly fun though and the scenery was spectacular. There was lake, mountain and forest views and at some of the holes there was no one around and it was so serene. We both made some really impressive shots but after we were finished Ronnie had beaten Aimee 81 to 104. We will always fondly remember this activity and glad we chose to do it.

It was finally time for lunch and we had to grab a few little things from the shops so we headed to a shopping complex nearby. Even the views from this area were amazing. We stopped by Kmart for the things we needed and then sought out food. The place we really wanted to go was Taco Medic but it was closed for lunch due to a staff shortage. We’ve seen this a bit already which is a bit of a shame but we ended up at a busy sushi place and got some chicken and rice boxes, L&Ps and mochi for a sweet treat – strawberry cream and red bean cream. It was good and filled our bellies but the mochi was so soft and the texture of the filling was a little odd.

We were about to begin the road trip to Wanaka so Ronnie got a coffee for the drive. He didn’t rate this one much either. The drive was crazy! We had a really windy drive up a really tall mountain. At one point we were almost driving level with an airplane that was still quite high in the air. The trip was about an hour and the views were so good. We’re already convinced this has to be one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.

Once we got to Wanaka we were able to head straight to our accommodation. We were checked in by the hotel owner who is quite a character, rested for a bit then headed out to explore. The location of our accommodation is great and the walk down to the lake is so nice. Absolutely stunning views were waiting for us at the lake. The background is snow-capped mountains. We took a stroll along a boardwalk and viewed some cool endangered birds at risk of extinction called grebes.

We then wandered to a bar, sat down for a drink to soak in the lovely fresh air , sun and views. We then went to Patagonia Chocolates to grab some dessert for later. We’d already chosen our dinner for the night and headed there next. We went to Red Star Burger. Ronnie had the BBQ which is a beef burger with Swiss cheese, pineapple and smoky BBQ sauce. Aimee had the Mac with beef, Swiss cheese and gherkins. We both really enjoyed our burgers. The sauces on the burgers were so tasty and they were super juicy. We shared a Cajun fries which were spicy but yum. To drink we got organic cola and lemonade. These weren’t the best.

Our final stop for the night was Liquorstore. Ronnie picked up some locally brewed alcoholic ginger beers. Wanaka actually has the most breweries per capital in NZ. Aimee got soft drink and then we walked back to the accommodation.

We have eaten our delicious chocolates from Patagonia for dessert. We got a Caramel Peak which is dark chocolate filled with soft caramel and Gold Chocolate which is caramelised white chocolate with macadamias and milk chocolate hokey pokey. Both were delicious.

We’ve also now discovered this those ginger beers are just beer with a hint of ginger flavour and he is not a fan.

We’re a bit exhausted so we’ve now retired for the night to play the Switch and watch Netflix. Catch ya tomorrow for another fun day in Wanaka.

Spending:
Parking – $2
Bakery – $17
Disc Golf – $13
Kmart – $28
Sushi – $34
Coffee – $4
Drinks at bar – $15
Patagonia Chocolates – $7
Red Star Burger – $38
Alcohol and soft drink – $40
Total – $198

Much love,
Ronnie & Aimee