On our second day in Queenstown, the alarm went off at 6:30AM.  And not the radio or cool mobile phone ring tone, the super-annoying, loud buzzer alarm - which Christian couldn’t figure out how to turn off.  Anyway, Christian had to leave early to attend to some important business.  As an aspiring sommelier, his important business involves networking with winemakers and vineyard owners and essentially spending the day drinking vino (he said he had his first glass at 9:00AM - tough work!); therefore, he was up an out the door about an hour before we got out of bed.

Once we did venture outside, a downright chilly morning awaited us (New Zealand weather is fickel and temperatures vary, which means Rus and I have gotten good at wearing layers; Queenstown is no different).  The sky was cloud-covered, but it looked like they would burn off as the sun got higher.  We went to a cafe called Halo for coffees (Rus gets cappuccino; I get Mochaccino) and eggs and bacon (did I mention that bacon in New Zealand is amazing!?).   After breakfast, we took the gondola up to the top of one of the mountains in Queenstown.  In addition, we purchased five rides on the Skyline Luge at the top.  The ride up the gondola was awesome, and we took lots of pictures, needlessly, as it turned out, because the view from the top was even more spectacular.  We did get to see some of the mountain terrain, the super-tall trees, and where a few insane people bungy jump.

Once at the top, a truly magnificent scene was before us.  The dark blue lake, the bright blue sky, the tall mountains everywhere, all of it breathtaking.  Queenstown is a tourist mecca, and they’ve done it right at the top of the gondola: a cafe, lots of areas for picture-taking, history, a Maori show (which we did not attend), lots of walking trails and picnic tables, etc.

After snapping what had to be nearly 100 photos, taking some video, etc., we decided to take our first ride on the luge.  There are two ways to get to the start of the luge.  One, you can walk.  It is not far, but it is steep, and it sort of winds up the mountain.  Two, you can take a short chairlift, which we did to get up the first time.  Once at the start, there are two tracks: “scenic” and “advanced”; the “scenic” one is required for your first ride to warm up (truthfully, I do not know why they call it “scenic” at all because you don’t spend much time looking at anything but where you are going!).  The luge was really fun!  We rode it a few times and decided to take a break to get a snack from the cafe and walk around.  There were little mountain trails where people had ventured off the paved paths, and we explored a few of these, literally at the mountain’s edge.  I couldn’t help but notice that beautiful little trails like these at an American commercial tourist spot like the gondola would never fly; they would be roped off with “Warning” signs.

While on these walks, Rus had the awesome idea to attach his camera to his helmet so the folks at home could experience the luge ride with us; it must have been all that bright sunshine and fresh air!  We laughed as he figured out how to get his digital camera securely in place and ready to record.  People were watching us do this and thought it was funny.  Once he got it going, it was time to test it out on the track!  Judge for yourself: take a ride with us on the Queenstown Skyline Luge!

Once we used up our five rides, it was time to go back down to the bottom of the hill.  Rus and I took the gondola back down; however, paragliding and hang gliding were also options - we have to leave something for nex time, right?  At this point, it was 3:30, and we had somehow spent more than four hours up there!  Christian was not due back for another couple of hours, so we decided to take a 2-hour cruise of the T.S.S. Earnslaw and bought tickets for the 4:00PM departure.The Earnslaw is a cool old boat, fairly well-preserved.  We opted to sit on the bow in the warm sunshine.  Once we departed the dock, we were both glad we had our respective wind-proof vests and shells; it was cold and windy during parts of the ride.  The scenery is gorgeous through there, and, with the exception of Queenstown itself, there is very little other development on the mountains surrounding the lake.  It kind of felt like we had stepped back in time, and I have to imagine that this is what many lakes in the United States used to look like before restaurants, docks, and summer homes covered their coasts. On the boat, we met two Canadian men, about our age (late 20s), who quit their jobs in Canada and have been cycling the South Island for the last three months.  They looked like it, with their hair bleached blond and skin tanned by the sun.  They were taking the boat across Lake Wakatipu to the Walter’s Peak (where we briefly docked to drop them off and pick up other passengers going back to Queenstown) to continue their journey.  Their bikes were loaded with their only gear - backpacks, pannier bags, etc.  They said they stopped when they got tired and knocked on farmers’ doors to barter chores for food when they found themselves in between places to buy something to eat.  He said the two of them could live on NZ$100 per week.  We often meet people, young and old, with stories like these.  Cars, houses, careers, fancy clothes - all overrated.  All you need is a partner, a good bike, and the right attitude!

We toasted a glass of wine on the way back and relaxed on the ride back to Queenstown.  Once back, we called Christian, who said he was on his way and close by.  Rus and I were ready for dinner, and we met Christian at a cafe for a lovely dinner of gourmet sandwiches - yum!

After dinner, we went to a store that has wine-tasting.  Their setup is quite different; you get a debit card and put it into a machine, then select one of hundreds of wines around the store, push a button on the selected bottle, the wine comes out, and the debit is charged.  Since we had our sommelier with us, we had him point us in the right direction - as usual, he was spot on.  The three of us tasted eight or nine different wines, then decided to call it a night.  Rus and I had to be at Mad Dog Riverboarding at 7:45AM.