Queenstown: 28th-30th March.

This morning Armelle felt really ill, so Jess frog-marched her to the pharmacy where we were promptly helped by a very enthusiastic lady who sold Armelle some (more) bugs for her tummy. These ‘friendly bacteria’ were becoming more and more necessary by the minute as we were getting the bus that morning for Queenstown. After all though, the bus journey was very pleasant despite being rather long, and we got a good taster of what was to come as we watched the rolling hills drift by. As we arrived we were greeted by Jason and Kate- two of Jess’ friends, who had booked us into the same place that they were staying. This was to be our first ‘Top Ten’ holiday park of many. We had a twin room next to theirs, which was very plush compared to anything we had stayed in up until then. That evening we had dinner at the World Bar. We were very excited to see Jason and Kate, but had a little trouble keeping our eyes open, and were grateful for the quiet, comfortable beds at the end of the day. The next morning Armelle still wasn’t feeling her normal self, so she had a bit of a lie in, and did some odd jobs in town, while Jason, Kate and Jess went fishing to Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu. Jason didn’t actually catch anything (despite coming out with shriveled toes at the end of an hour or so knee-deep in cold water), but it was really beautiful all the same- it was a lovely sunny morning, and what clouds there were clung half way up the side of the hills like they were suspended on strings. It was lunch time by the time we arrived back at Queenstown, so we shared some of Jason and Kate’s provisions, which was later paid back to them in wine. To Jason’s disgust we spent the afternoon shopping, which he secretly loved. Queenstown is a small but vibrant town with lots of good shops and a pretty lakeside which reminded Armelle of Banff. After we had exhausted nearly all our financial supplies, Kate and Jess abandoned the other two to do some bonding over their beers and try the local lager (Armelle especially liked one from Nelson). Glad of the moral support, they booked themselves in to do some paragliding on the basis that the weather might not be so good the next day, and went back to join the others for a stiff drink to prepare themselves. What they didn’t quite realize was that they had to go up the gondola and the ski lift and then trek (practically) on up into the mountains before they reached their departure spot, where the ‘runway’ was in fact a sheer drop off the mountainside. It was wholly against every instinct Jess possessed to run down this slope, and she was quite worried she wasn’t running fast enough, as it’s not easy to run (even downhill) when attached to both someone else and a parachute. Anyway, the ‘flight’ was amazing, it was like being suspended on a giant swing, with spectacular views down three valleys, and they both talked about it constantly on landing (to the great irritation of the others.) Afterwards all four of us headed up the gondola again where we took some nice photos and watched the sun go down, and then headed back to our lodgings for some burgers and a BBQ. Yum! Unfortunately a British driving license wasn’t good enough I.D for buying some vino, much to our surprise and disappointment. The next day turned out to be quite stressful to start with, we had a few issues booking our campervan, and then Jess got permanent pen on her favourite ¾ length trousers (which was very upsetting despite them being from Primarni). Anyway, it was all made good with a little retail therapy when she bought a nice top(!), and we got some blog done. That evening Jason, Kate and Jess played mini golf in this crazy little place (with a volcano, a castle and a ski lift to name but a few of the holes), where Jess lost shockingly and was most embarrassed-much to the amusement of the other two. Armelle was overcome by a sudden need take advantage of the holiday park’s comfortable lounge to watch reality T.V, and could not be coaxed away from American Idol, even for mini-golf. Supper that evening was a communal affair again, and this time we managed to get some wine to go with it. Jess carried her passport around throughout the entire day for this sole purpose, and, as is usually the case, they didn’t ask for it that time…