I saw lights flashing behind me.
I was going slower than the guy in front of me and I didn’t think I was speeding. I slowed down. The cop swerved around me and flew toward the car ahead.
That guy refused to pull over. I thought maybe it was a stolen car or something. There was a brief second where I wondered if it was a very low-key, medium speed chase.
Finally he got over to the side. I approached with caution.
The cop quickly got out of his car and asked me to make my way to the shoulder as well.
Shit.
Thankfully I had my international driving permit nearby. He came to my car first and told me the reason — too fast in a work zone. I didn’t see the temporary limit signs but it registered when he said it. 86 in a 50. Brutal.
Luck was on my side because I caught him on a good day. He gave me a warning, wrote down my information and then sent me on my way.
Epic. That means I escaped about a $400 citation, plus whatever fees the rental company would tack on.
Sigh of relief. Short happy dance. Continued onto Wanaka.
I was reaching an area of the South Island that was meant to be the most beautiful. Wanaka, Queenstown, and Fiordland National Park arguably have the best views in the whole country.
The main city center of Wanaka is nestled nicely on a lake surrounded by some gorgeous snow-capped mountains in the background. I mean, a pretty unbeatable view really. Pictures don’t do justice to how picturesque the setting was. Wait, what?
They don’t though.
I checked out downtown quickly (because it’s only a few blocks) and splurged on a burger and beer to celebrate the completion of the Copland Track. I was in desperate need of a shower and some sleep. Of course in my sweaty, haggard state I was greeted at my Hostel’s reception by a stunning Canadian girl.
I fell asleep in the shower, before my head even hit the pillow.
The mixed metaphor fits.
There are so many walks around Wanaka. Probably enough to fill up two full weeks. Unfortunately, my knee was destroyed so I decided to find the nearest brewery and catch up on some things.
I did walk there since it wasn’t all that far away. Felt it every step of the way. Dammit.
After sampling some of the local suds, I walked along the lake to the infamous tree. There is a hashtag and social media campaign for this tree; it’s that popular. Admittedly, it is pretty sweet to look at. Again with that insane background.
I got takeaway dinner and ate it out by the water as the sun went down. Righteous food and scenery combo, without question.
The following day I checked out. No fond farewell from my Canadian princess, sadly. Instead, I was onto Queenstown.
It was a short drive, so I stopped in Arrowtown on the way. An old gold mining town with a few leftover relics. The signage and setup were cool. Nice vibe, but not enough going on to make for a long stay there.
I ate my lunch outside at a park and enjoyed the sun. It was a return to ole faithful — the ham and cheese sandwich.
Entering Queenstown seemed like an actual city, which was new. It’s actually only slightly bigger than Wanaka, and also has a few streets that wrap around a lake. Again, incredibly majestic with snow-capped mountains lining the backdrop.
What I didn’t know was there was an international marathon that weekend. Makes sense why I couldn’t find a room for 4 consecutive nights.
I was still on the shelf with the knee issue, so hiking remained postponed. Just walking around Queenstown was somewhat of a challenge, but it was energizing to see all of the sweet laneways with shops, restaurants and cafes. I had a long list of recommended places to try. It was obvious I was going to blow my budget but I was ok with it.
After a decent day of exploring the nooks and crannies I got ready for an evening beer tour. It was a guided bus thing that took a group around to a few breweries to sample the goods — or so I thought.
I got to the pick up spot and it was just me. Literally, I was the only one on the entire tour. I got to ride in the front seat at least?
The guide, Lewis, looked a bit like mustache-era James Franco. He started up the business by himself and was running all of the trips. Something I really appreciated. Being solo on the thing did make interactions with the brewers a tad awkward though.
At our first stop, some employees from the next stop showed up and sat with us. Kept it from being a blind bro-date. Part of the reason I booked the thing was to socialize with others, so this would have to do..
All in all, I had a good saison and sweet, sweet canyon views.
It was still early when I got back to town so I looked for something to do. I found a place that was doing happy hour with $5 pizzas. Deece. They also had a wet T-shirt contest between two guys and one girl. Hmm…
The next day, it rained the whole time. Shocker. After I switched hostels and stuff, I pulled the trigger on booking one of the more adventurous things I’ve ever done in my life — a canyon swing and zip line.
The promo video for this thing looked tasty. The zip line is the first/only(?) of its kind. A 5 meter free fall combined with a zip across the canyon. The swing was about a 70m free fall with a 200m swing at the bottom. Goo.
I had nightmares about the height. Looking over the edge and being terrified. I’m not a huge fan of high things but I had to do something like this while I was here.
The morning came and it was shaping up to be an awesome day. The drive up to the place was on a sketchy, windy road. The appetizer.
The group got harnessed up, went through all of the safety stuff and then it was time to face some fears.
Running and flipping off the ledge seemed like the way to go. I was wondering if my legs would just stop working halfway down the ramp and I would limply roll off like a chump. As counterintuitive as it is to run off a cliff, I managed to do it without over thinking.
The transition from jump to swing was silky and the view, combined with the feeling of gliding over the canyon was glorious. My GoPro decided to shut itself off right before I jumped which was super sweet. Couldn’t make the same mistake on the swing.
There’s a ton of different ways you can do it. I decided on backwards as it was supposed to be one of the scariest. Secretly, I was like how does that make sense? You’re not looking at the ground come rushing at you.
The jump masters were two dudes that help get you into position while taking the absolute piss. The kind of thing where one guy asks for a double-check on the safety hookup and the other guy says “it’s probably fine.” They explained how to do backwards very quickly while I was already hanging off the edge and they were barely hanging on to me. Then they said it was up to me and let go. That caught me completely off guard so I immediately forgot the protocol which is why I ended up doing some back flips on the way down. I should have known when I saw them say “we’re going to give you a countdown” and released the person before any numbers were said. It was still badass.
Would be pretty hard to top that experience, but that night I signed up for an organized bar crawl. I was looking for a little bit of social redemption from the brewery tour and I found a deal for just $10.
I’ll sum it up by saying either the night life in Queenstown is good or I’m getting really old. We got a half shot at every place we went (5 bars), got to skip the lines, and also got discounted drinks. Oh yeah, the bars are also open til 4am.
Everybody on the crawl seemed to be young. I met some early 20s dudes from the Faroe Islands that were stoked. They have a name for a tequila shot + jager bomb but, unsurprisingly, I forget what it is. I’m honestly not sure how many jager bombs were had.
After a few hours of crowded dancing, there came a point where I hit my wall and had to call it.
The next morning I got a slow start. Scheduling a bar crawl the night before you have to check out and leave town probably isn’t the smartest. Thankfully I could take my time getting to Te Anau.