Hi everyone!

We got a nice sleep last night. The days have been so long and the nights so restful it has been a good balance. Today was no exception to more massive days. We woke up at about 8 and while everyone got ready Ronnie ran down to Ferg baker and got some baked goods including a nice almond & chocolate croissant for breakfast and coffee at a little coffee van. The coffee has still not been great here though. The search continues!

We left Julian with Nan this morning for a bit of a slow morning and because this activity wouldn’t be appropriate for Julian (too small) and Nan (too scared). We went on the Gondola up to the top of Bob’s peak which is about 480 metres above Queenstown. The views here are absolutely phenomenal.

At the top of the gondola there are multiple view points, a restaurant, a few gift shops and it is the hub for some adventure activities that take place up here including paragliding, bungee jumping, ziplining and what we chose to do Luge-ing. We have done the Luge before in Rotorua and Ronnie did it last time we were in Queenstown and it is such an amazing time. You get in these little carts and cruise down the hill on the racetrack and race the shit out of everyone on the track!

The first run was great as we were the first ones there. The people actually gave us two free runs which was awesome. We paid for six runs but ended up getting eight. The views are phenomenal, and you feel the wind blowing on your face as you hoon it down the track.

Eventually the crowds grew a bit bigger, and we had competition but that made it more fun as we were then able to do overtaking maneuvers and races which were awesome. When you get to the bottom of the track you just jump straight onto the chairlift and head back up to the top. It’s seamless and amazing.

We went and picked up Nan and Julian after our awesome morning and headed to a pub called Gantley’s Tavern for lunch. They had a lovely little outside area where we sat and had our lunch.

We ordered a few smaller plates and shared them. We had some sourdough beer bread which was nice dipped in the olive oil, calamari which had a really soft batter and tender meat and jalapeño poppers which were probably the tastiest jalapeño poppers we’ve ever had. The cheese just oozed out of them.

Then for dessert we grabbed a caramel popcorn pavlova which is exactly what it sounds like. Meringue with cream, caramel sauce, caramelized peaches and popcorn on top. It was absolutely delicious. Now the question begs, did Australia or NZ invent pavlova? Hot topic for debate.

After lunch we drove back up to near the gondola from this morning to go to the Kiwi & Birdlife sanctuary so that Julian could see the birds of New Zealand. There is very little wildlife that is native to New Zealand, it is mostly birds so it makes sense to have a bird sanctuary. They were about to have a kiwi presentation in the kiwi room so we zipped straight to the back of the park to see the Kiwi show which wasn’t really much. Kiwis are nocturnal so they are kept in a very dark room and you can’t take pictures or make loud sounds. The presenter talked about the kiwis. Julian decided to make a lot of noise though so Ronnie left the presentation with him because he was scaring the kiwis.

There were lots of funny birds. Julian enjoyed looking at them for short periods of time. There were funny fat birds that just perched, beautiful coloured birds, cheeky birds and birds that could not fly but enjoyed following people around. You are able to go into their enclosures and spend time with them which was nice.

We then stopped in for some gelato at Anita gelato. Ronnie had pistachio, Aimee had milk chocolate pretzel and lime and nan had lemon and mint which was a weird choice but actually turned out to be the best one.

We drove back to the accommodation and walked down to our restaurant reservation. Tonight, we went to what Aimee declared as her one of her favourite dining experiences of all time last time we were in Queenstown – Margo’s. Julian was sat into this weird highchair that they attached to the table. He didn’t really like it so he was a bit upset and uncomfortable throughout dinner. We ordered him a cheese quesadilla which he liked though.

We started with an order of the corn chips with the trio of salsas (Salsa Verde, Salsa Roja and Sikil Pak).

They were delicious just like last time. Though there was a salsa they had last time that they didn’t have this time that was amazing, so we were a little bit disappointed by that. We also ordered cocktails. Aimee had two classic margaritas, her favourite cocktail and Ronnie had a frozen strawberry and a frozen lime one. They were strong and we were definitely feeling the effects of the alcohol by the end of dinner.

We shared some other dishes amongst us like coconut tempura prawns and coca-cola pork ribs. We ordered these dishes last time and they’re still delicious as ever.

We also ordered a beef braised beef brisket taco and an apricot pastor pork belly bao and pulled chicken tacos. These tacos are very much loaded. They are huge and barely fit in the taco which was a welcome sight. They were all delicious. The apricot pastor pork belly bao was very interesting and unique.

Then for dessert we had churros with a chocolate sauce and dulce de leche cream. The churros were crispy, and the sauces were lovely. We were full to the brink by this point and needed a lay down and a sleep. We stumbled back up to our accommodation with full bellies and settled in for the night to get some sleep for another big day.

Much love,

Ronnie, Aimee & Julian.