Queenstown

Back in Rotorua a number of weeks back, I was sat in a busy hall eating a 'hangi' meal at the Maori cultural experience. The girl next to me had been travelling in New Zealand for a few weeks, so I asked her what her highlight was. Her response baffled me; 'Fergburger'. New Zealand has arguably the finest scenery in the world; glaciers, mountains, coastlines, thermal activity - but Fergburger was something I had not heard of. Attempting to ignore the fact that it sounded like a burger, I asked her where it was. She informed me that it was nowhere - Fergburger was indeed a burger. A number of other people have since then also highlighted the excellence of Fergburger, and so on my first evening in Queenstown there was only one place for me to go. I paid my $10 and received a large and tasty looking burger; and indeed it was very good - in fact it was quite possibly the finest burger I've ever had. To say it was a highlight of New Zealand is going a bit far - it is, after all, just a burger - but a very good one.

I spent Wednesday walking around Queenstown, and on Thursday I braved the cold and rain and walked up The One Mile Track. Unfortunately my guide book failed to inform me that there was lots more uphill walking once the track was finished - and as my legs began to tire and the first snowfall of my travels began to fall, I started to regret having no idea where the top was. Luckily it was not too far away.

By now it was quite late, and the top of the hill was fairly low on activity - but I was still able to go luging (a kind of basic downhill go-kart), witness a very calm looking man indulge in a canyon-swing bungy jump, and enjoy the steep cable-car ride back down to the bottom of the hill. The evening was spent in a few bars with Spud from my dorm.

The rain continued to blight my time in Queenstown, but nevertheless I booked a trip to Milford Sound for Saturday. The scenery on the drive there was very impressive, and the cruise on the water was even better.

Unfortunately I was too late to book a bus to my next destination on Sunday, but today I move on to Dunedin.