After a roller coaster ride on Milford Road, I was ready to take it easy for a while and put down some roots in the “adventure-capital” of the world, Queenstown. Many travelers hate on Queenstown, particularly during peak season which is when I was there. With tourism being the key industry, you’re bombarded with countless tourism packages offering bungee jumping, paragliding, luging, jetboating, rafting, sky-diving, mountain biking, oh my god make it stop, kitchy stores, overpriced restaurants, demonic seagulls (thank you feeding tourists) and loud, reckless 20-somethings abusing alcohol in ways that painfully bring back those college days.
Despite all of that, I actually quite enjoyed Queenstown. Set on the south shore of Lake Wakatipu with breathtaking views of the Remarkables mountains, the streets offered a plethora of live street music, stunning art galleries, yoga classes (yin yoga was oh so amazing), delicious burgers, salted caramel gelato, and countless locations to relax in the sun with a book.
^Tim Wilson gallery where his ridiculously detailed landscape paintings change color under different lighting to show the various times of day.
^Famous Fergburger – believe the hype it really is amazing, everything from the perfectly toasted bread to the crisp and juicy fresh vegetables and delicious meat. Noms to the max. After trying the rival Devil Burger, I have to say Ferg 1, everyone else 0.
v(Illegally) camping by the lake on my first night oops so I could make it in time to say goodbye to Rachel, who unfortunately had to cut her trip short in order to get surgery back in the US. In a matter of months, she’s gone back to frolicking around like no other; a remarkable recovery!
I had the opportunity to help out at Deco Backpackers hostel and get to know the amazing Kiwi-American couple, Tim & Marla, and their cycle-touring manager, Chris. In exchange for a couple of hours of making beds, cleaning common areas, helping guests check-in and doing some random odd jobs (e.g., Christmas tree decorating (!), cutting branches so we could fit them in the trash), I had a home base with beautiful views of Queenstown, solid hammock time, a fun crew of “long term” travelers working in the city, and a large kitchen where I could go ommlette cray cray ‘err day, amongst other treats.
While I had to venture into surrounding Queenstown and Glenorchy to explore the majority of walking trails, a short walk up the centrally located Queenstown Hill offered splendid views of the Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu, especially during magic hour and sunset 😉
With Rachel gone, I was left with tickets to go to the New Years Rhythm & Alps music festival in the Cadrona Valley and none of my dancing peeps from NYC to accompany me 😦 After much indecision on what to do (who goes to a music festival alone??), I decided to say f*** it, borrowed Chris’s awesome tent, and ventured out to get my (very rusty) dance grooves on, solo or not. The experience turned out to be unique and awesome in it’s own way – magic hour dancing was unbeatable, the food stands were delicious, and when the crowd got too rowdy for my liking, nighttime reading with dessert was weirdly amazing. Don’t judge.
After the heat woke me up, I spent the first day of 2016 chilling out to fire truck tunes, feasting on a solid food truck burger, and finding an awesome mattress and folding chair for my car camping adventures. It’s insane how much good quality and brand new camping gear was getting thrown out!
Aside from all the eating and lounging in Queenstown, I also attended to some less glorious things like draining my wallet to fix my iPhone screen, starting my slew of physical therapy treatments in NZ (and learning how amazing acupuncture-type needle therapy is), and hoping to get little sister brownie points by compiling friends’ testimonials and photos for my brother’s 30th birthday. It was a perfect respite before getting back to hiking in Wanaka!
MJ & the world 
Loved going through this section. Brought back the memories of all that you used to relate those days..what a rich and diverse set of experiences!!
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