Closed roads, impromptu pancakes, and unexpected reunions
So we flew into Queenstown yesterday- it’s a nice, tight packed place at the bottom of a mountain, but definitely a holiday town, so everything is more expensive than in Christchurch. We are in a hostel with pod bunks, and one of our roommates was nice enough to let me have her bottom bunk because I was having difficulties easily managing my assigned top bunk (lol).
We got Fergburger for lunch (suggested to us by Maria in Christchurch) and had our lunches down by the water in a floating bar called Perky’s (suggested to us by Holly, a receptionist in our hostel). Fergburger is a local institution that specializes in, you guessed it, burgers. Burgers of all kinds. They have pictures and newspaper write ups all over their walls, claiming to be the top burger anywhere. We decided to give it a try. I have to say, I was impressed with it being a NZ burger and all. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but it was definitely a quality product.
We explored the city, shopped a little, played best out of 9 in Connect 4 (I swept the first 3 games, but Hannah got the hang of it), sampled wines at an amazing place called The Winery (Hillsborough Wine on steroids) then got dinner at Wild Thyme. My Thai salad was delicious. We had a early sleep, expecting an early start to Milford Sound tomorrow.
We got up and got ready for our 7:15 pickup from a nearby bus stop. The bus arrived early, but we were there, so we got on. After picking up about a dozen other people, the driver announced the road was closed and he would have to drop us all back off and we would have to reach out to our bookers to be refunded. Disappointed, we went back to the hostel and directly to reception, knowing it opened at 7:30 and Holly had been very helpful with suggestions the previous day. After weighing options, we decided to book another wine tour, this time in the Gibbston and Bannockburn areas outside of Queenstown. We decided since we would be drinking soon, and all day, we needed a better breakfast and walked into town. We located delicious pancakes, chilled a little at the hostel, and were picked up just before 11 for the wine tour.
We made the rounds picking up other people (the driver said we would have 12 total) and imagine our surprise as we pulled up a hotel to see Kelly and Marcus, the couple from our Christchurch wine tour, waiting for the bus. Marcus had a great reaction to seeing us and shook our hands, Kelly said, “oh no, this is embarrassing,” since they got caught on a second wine tour. I was so happy and excited to see them again, and what are the odds? We did 4 wineries and had a platter lunch. The region specializes in Pinot noirs, and I found some in Bannockburn I especially liked.
After our tour, we bid goodbye to Kelly and Marcus (maybe for good 😂) and went back to reception to check on booking the Milford Sound for tomorrow. It turns out, the tour we wanted got booked, but we did secure seats on another, this time with another American couple that we met on the wine tour today. So tonight is another early night and 6:35 pickup in the morning 😱.
We got Fergburger for lunch (suggested to us by Maria in Christchurch) and had our lunches down by the water in a floating bar called Perky’s (suggested to us by Holly, a receptionist in our hostel). Fergburger is a local institution that specializes in, you guessed it, burgers. Burgers of all kinds. They have pictures and newspaper write ups all over their walls, claiming to be the top burger anywhere. We decided to give it a try. I have to say, I was impressed with it being a NZ burger and all. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but it was definitely a quality product.
We explored the city, shopped a little, played best out of 9 in Connect 4 (I swept the first 3 games, but Hannah got the hang of it), sampled wines at an amazing place called The Winery (Hillsborough Wine on steroids) then got dinner at Wild Thyme. My Thai salad was delicious. We had a early sleep, expecting an early start to Milford Sound tomorrow.
We got up and got ready for our 7:15 pickup from a nearby bus stop. The bus arrived early, but we were there, so we got on. After picking up about a dozen other people, the driver announced the road was closed and he would have to drop us all back off and we would have to reach out to our bookers to be refunded. Disappointed, we went back to the hostel and directly to reception, knowing it opened at 7:30 and Holly had been very helpful with suggestions the previous day. After weighing options, we decided to book another wine tour, this time in the Gibbston and Bannockburn areas outside of Queenstown. We decided since we would be drinking soon, and all day, we needed a better breakfast and walked into town. We located delicious pancakes, chilled a little at the hostel, and were picked up just before 11 for the wine tour.
We made the rounds picking up other people (the driver said we would have 12 total) and imagine our surprise as we pulled up a hotel to see Kelly and Marcus, the couple from our Christchurch wine tour, waiting for the bus. Marcus had a great reaction to seeing us and shook our hands, Kelly said, “oh no, this is embarrassing,” since they got caught on a second wine tour. I was so happy and excited to see them again, and what are the odds? We did 4 wineries and had a platter lunch. The region specializes in Pinot noirs, and I found some in Bannockburn I especially liked.
After our tour, we bid goodbye to Kelly and Marcus (maybe for good 😂) and went back to reception to check on booking the Milford Sound for tomorrow. It turns out, the tour we wanted got booked, but we did secure seats on another, this time with another American couple that we met on the wine tour today. So tonight is another early night and 6:35 pickup in the morning 😱.
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