Hi readers!

This morning we decided to all go out for breakfast to a place that we researched prior to coming to Queenstown called “Balls and Bangles” They a range of bagels and donuts. It is an interesting combination of foods, but it works. We ordered a Nutella bagel for Julian which he did not enjoy at all. Ronnie ordered a brekky bagel which had bacon, egg, Swiss cheese, greens aioli & BBQ sauce, He swapped the bacon for a hash brown. Aimee had “The one” which was a rosemary bagel with bacon, hash brown, greens, tomato relish and aioli. These bagels were absolutely damn delicious. They really hit the spot. Of course, we also got an obligatory morning coffee which came with a little donut hole which was a great idea!

After this, Nan and Julian went back to the room for Julians nap and a bit of downtime. We went back into town for one of our favourite activities on every trip we make – an escape room. It was titled the Murder in the Prince of Wales hotel 2. We don’t know why it is #2, though we did an escape room at this same place with a similar theme last time we were here. This escape room was rather well crafted. The puzzles were intuitive, the mechanics were cool, and the theme was OK. We blitzed through this room and found it pretty easy despite them saying it was their hardest room. Obviously not hard enough to fool the escape room veterans! They had goofy props to dress up with and take a photo afterwards, which of course we did.

It was Ronnie’s turn for some downtime alone today as Aimee, Nan and Julian were embarking on this afternoon’s activity. They were going on the TSS Earnslaw which is a 1912 old school steamer boat.

The boat takes you across the lake over to Walter’s Peak High-Country farm which is a massive sheep farm that has a beautiful function room and restaurant on the lake. When you get there, you sit down for a Gourmet BBQ buffet dining experience. We understand that buffets are usually always quantity over quality, but there is definitely some quality to this one. They have many beautiful meats cooked and carved right in front of you and an assortment of gourmet salads and desserts. None of which felt overproduced. Julian very much enjoyed his food here and ate as much as he could stomach which was a significant amount for a little belly.

After the lunch you move over to a sheep shearing and sheep dog show which is super entertaining. The rancher talks to the audience about the farm and facts about shearing sheep and sheepdogs. The dog show is simple but excellent. He whistles to the dog who does its thing with the sheep on a very steep hill right in front of everybody. These types of sheepdogs use their stare to move the sheep around. They are so clever, and it is really quite impressive.

Once this was done, we all met back together at around 5pm at the Queenstown harbour. We walked around for a bit and went back into the accommodation. We went back out briefly and got some Korean take away at a restaurant called I LOVE Kimchi. Nan got some beef bulgogi and we got Tteokbokki and some sweet and spicy korean fried chicken. Tteokbokki is a dish made up of dumplings, fish cake and the main ingredient, tubular rice cakes in a spicy sauce. We also got some kimchi on the side. It was all delicious. There aren’t enough Korean restaurants out there, especially in Bathurst where there are none.

We also went to Fergbaker to get some items to share for dessert. We got a carrot cake, a caramel eclair and their famous Boston cream donut. We thought they were all delicious, but the carrot cake was not put together very well and had some issues with texture.

Much love,

Ronnie, Aimee & Julian