It was Remarkable

Today we arrived at Queenstown and to civilisation as we know it. There were people and cars here. Lots of shops, bars and cafes....a Pizza Hut,Starbucks and other recognisable outlets! But we hadn't come for civilisation we were here to see the spectacular scenery and we weren't disappointed. We headed for the Queenstown Gondola and took a ride up to look down on Lake Wakatipu and across to the Remarkables mountain range. And what a view!

The water was a bluey green, the sky blue, the sun shining and all was well with the world. Until that is we decided to do the luge/tea tray ride(like Rotorua). With the theory of what goes up must come down in my head, it appeared we had to go UP in a chairlift first this time to get to the luge track. Not being partial to dangling my legs over a seat 20m up in the air I wondered if I was brave enough to do this again. Memories of Rotorua came flooding back and I felt quite sick. However with two boys desperate to get going, the choice was already made for me.
On the way to the chairlift

And I am so glad it was! The views coming down were superb, although a little tricky to negotiate bends when you you are trying to look at snow-capped mountains and stretches of lake in front of you! I was quite content with one ride, but the boys had a couple more. We had lunch in the cafe at the top too, watching sky divers coming down, it was fantastic.

Spent ages looking at the views taking photos of groups of other people too. Our catchphrase became 'Takee photo' for the rest of the trip( a had to be there moment)

The luge track