12 MAY QUEENSTOWN

I woke up at 5:30am, 6:30 am and 8am respectively to check out the view of Lake Wakatipu from the window of our room.  Unfortunately, I could only see total darkness for the first 2 times.  Anyway, the sun must rise no matter what, so this was what I saw at 8am.  Isn't it awesome?

We went up to Gondola Point to have a clearer view of Queenstown. The entrance fees, which inclusive of return cable car ride was NZ$23 per person.  The cable car ride reminded me of Schilthorn in Interlaken, Switzerland. I truly hope one day Penang will also have this convenient facility for Penang Hill visitors. No more lousy stuffy old cable car.

This time we enjoyed the spectacular view of Lake Wakatipu and the tranquill township from a birdeye point of view. The turquoise blue Lake Wakatipu harbour a Maori legend of love, commitment, and passion.  The story illustrated a beautiful girl named Manata, who was deeply in love with a boy named Matakauri.  Unfortunately, Manata's father objected their relationship.  One day, Manata was kidnapped by a giant called Matau.  Manata's father promised Manata would marry whoever could rescue her. Matau grabbed this golden opportunity and risked his life to rescue Manata.  He set fire to burn Matau. The fat from Matau's body made the fire so intense it burned a hole of more than 400 meters deep.  Melted snow filled in to form Lake Wakatipu, shaped like a giant curled up in sleep.

After spending nearly 2 hours on the peak, we went down to the town to search for lunch. We ended up in the food hall of Queenstown Mall (though it was called a Mall, it was only a 2-storey building that made up of not more than 10 shops).  Bernard got himself a set of roast lamb, which tasted like heaven while I had a salmon bento where the salmon was thick, fresh and succulent. 

We took a stroll at Queenstown Botanic Garden after the great lunch.  It was a well maintained huge park, which you can spend a quiet afternoon surrounded by hundred-year-old trees and fluorishing blossoms.

We then drove to Arrowtown, an ex-gold mines, which was situated 20 mins away from Queenstown.  This quiet little town was made up of 2 rows of shop, that's it.  We drove away after spending about 30 minutes here as there was really nothing much to explore.

On our way back, we accidentally came across the Remarkable Shopping Centre.  This was a shopping place where I read in a brochure but unable to determine the location as it was not stated in the map of Queenstown.  I managed to get a few more pair of thermal socks from Warehouse while Bernard found 'Eveready' battery in a pack of 20, at a surprisingly special  price, NZ$8. We then stepped into a departmental store next to Warehouse hoping to find a waist pouch for Bernard (his pouch had broken during the journey).  Upon stepping into this single- storey departmental store, I couldn't believe that we were the only 2 customers in such a huge store!  We ended up not buying anything as the goods are old fashion and over price.  I started to miss the happening shopping atmosphere in places like Tesco, Jusco and Parkson in Malaysia. 

Having fond memory of the food hall in Queenstown Mall, we went back to the same place to have our dinner.  Again, the Thai Tomyam and chicken with cashew nuts were irresistable.  This was really the best place to eat in Queenstown!  How come Thai Food in a western country can be so tasty? Well, this is not a tough question if you know that New Zealand is a country filled with migrants from all over the world. 

Later that night, I bought a pair of possum fur glove from one of the Japanese-own souvenir shops.  Hopefully, they will keep me warm in the secluded places that we are going to visit soon like Te Anau,Wanaka and Franz Josef .

Looking at the huge number of Japanese who settled down in Queenstown each year, sometimes we would think that we were in Japan while visiting this town.  Many Japanese had visited this beautiful lake town and fell deeply in love with it.  They left everything in their highly competitive country behind, acquired a small business here and started afresh in this astonishing town that allow them to slow down to enjoy what is remaining in life. Their arrival has also boosted up the property price, making the houses especially those facing the marvellous Lake Wakatipu highly unaffordable by the locals.   

P/S: I also noticed that my sinusitus had mysteriously recovered since 2 days ago.  Is it due to the fresh air and clean environment? If so, I have to seriously consider moving here.