Chronicles of Leisure

Day six of the New Zealand road trip took me to Queenstown

Beautifully situated on the shores of Lake Wakatipu

Queenstown offers up skiing in the winter, and activities like bungy jumping, sky diving and jet boat rides in the summer

“Any season every reason” is the Queenstown motto, drawing in the crowds and offering an endless list of ways to empty your wallet during the day. Plus, with bars, clubs, restaurants and a casino open as late as anybody is willing to stay, there is nothing stopping you from living it up around the clock here. That being that and me being me, four days and some late nights came and went very quickly in Queenstown.

I caught my second one day international cricket match here, this one between New Zealand and the West Indies. Even the cricket grounds have stunning scenery in New Zealand

A one day cricket match kicks off around 10:30 in the morning and runs until about 6 p.m. The all day affair leads many to assume the laying down position

That might also have something to do with the Export Gold flowing through the taps the entire day. New Zealand easily took care of the Windies, although the Windies players I saw out later that night toasting shots didn’t look too concerned about it. Found out that the World Cup of Cricket in 2007 is being hosted in the West Indies. With venues in places like Barbados, Antigua, Jamaica and St. Lucia, I have a feeling I’ll have recruited some cricket fans by then to join me

The Queenstown region is just as beautiful from above, and soaring over the Southern Alps in a helicopter was a great experience

When the pilot pointed out this glacier ahead of us and said we were going to land on it, I thought he couldn’t be serious

But sure enough, he set us down there a few minutes later after finding a flat part. The icy air was a pleasant reminder that I have missed an entire D.C. winter

Glaciers on mountains melting into waterfalls sustaining vegetation and creating lakes with no names. Quite a sight

The Squirrel BA350 was brand new, just the way I like my aircraft. Nice office for Captain Pete

I took a little video from the glacier if you want to take a look, it’ll take a minute to load:

http://chroniclesofleisure.com/links/glacier.avi

And of course, no glacier stop would be complete without straddling a crevasse

Always wanted to do that. I had heard that Queenstown is fantastic, and now I know it is. I met a few people here who came and never left, and I can understand why. As for me, I’m off, heading up the west coast of the South Island.