Jer got up at 6:40, good dinner meant no weird dreams. Re-dried the laundry that was still wet, played with camera batteries and media. Roused sleepie Jess a bit after 7.
After a leisurely shower, we got dressed and headed down to our breakfast buffet in the hotel’s OGB restaurant. (Notably, we tried kiwi juice and feijoa juice, and realized that the latter was not really pronounced fe-jo-a, as our waitress insisted, but fe-yo-ha, and that we had had it in Ecuador when we visited Alexis.) After packing, we stopped by the business center to use the computer, then hopped on the bus to the airport.
Once at Christchurch airport, we got our boarding passes and proceeded to our gate. Minutes before our plane was due to depart, we were told that our flight to Queenstown was cancelled. No really good reason was given, but it seemed that Air NZ was one plane short - we were rebooked on a Qantas flight leaving 4 hrs later. It became clear that we couldn’t make it to Te Anau for the glow worm cave excursion (well, not without chartering a flight!). After much stress and disappointment, we reworked our trip to spend the night in Queenstown, and leave for Doubtful Sound from there the next morning. (We did put our time in the Christchurch airport to some good use, acquiring a small stuffed kiwi, who was promptly named Tamaki, after Jer’s adopted bird.) Once we were able to get on a plane, our flight was smooth, and included a stunning descent over the mountains into Queenstown. We took a shuttle to our motor lodge, the Alexis Queenstown, got checked in, and admired the view of Lake Wakatipu from the deck.
Having unburdened and recomposed ourselves, we set out into town in search of a snack. We soon discovered that Queenstown is a rather overgrown town, but the “downtown” area is rather small. The first two cafes we tried we either closed or only serving drinks until dinnertime, so we stopped at a kebab stand/ice cream shop, where Jer obtained a falafel and Jess a delicious Deep South hokey pokey cone.
After a bit more wandering, we realized that the sun was setting over the Remarkables mountains and Lake Wakatipu. Being opportunists, we raced to the Queenstown Gondola and rode to the top of Bob’s Peak, overlooking the town, the mountains and the water. We caught the last rays of light playing off the snow-capped peaks, and it was a truly magical sight. Even though the gondola rides were a bit scary, due to the steepness of the hill, the views were worth it.
Back at town-level, we walked about 10 min. north to the Fresh Choice supermarket to lay in provisions for breakfast and lunch the next day. In and around marveling at the NZ grocery selections, we managed to find ourselves fresh rolls, butter, jam, venison pepperoni, with Kapiti blue and cheddar cheeses, cookies, trail mix and oj. Back in town, we purchased some olives to round out the meal.
We then walked to the Fishbone Grill for dinner. Jer had fish and chips, which was composed of decent chips and excellent fish. Unfortunately, the falafel “kabab” he ate earlier prevented him from finishing. Jess had garlic bread and seafood chowder, which was quite good after a bit more pepper and a lot more salt. We were amused by the boisterous and only somewhat English-speaking Japanese tourists at the next table. For dessert, Jess finally got her pavlova, which was mighty tasty. (This one was a fairly soft one topped with whipped cream and berries, sitting in a pool of berry and chocolate sauce, garnished with a chocolate and marshmallow fish.) Jer helped eat it.
After a brisk uphill walk back to our motel, we fell into bed a bit before 11:00.