Queenstown may be small, but gosh darn it packs a punch!
Media – Round 4
Chasing Vistas (3/11/23) – Photos
Chasing Vistas (3/11/23) – Video
3/11/23 @ 10:30pm – Wyndham Garden Queenstown, Queenstown, NZ
All trip photo albums
Trip video playlist
Mr. Seamon-Ingalls:
With no phones to coordinate initial wake ups, Mrs. Mish and I knocked on all the kids’ doors to rouse them at 7am. Shortly before the group met up in the nearby common room at 7:45, I walked around the outside deck and watched the sun begin the peak over the mountains. Wow. By 8am we were all digging into another yummy and very filling breakfast, with the stellar view of the lake and mountains behind and around us. I can see why the Lodge was the perfect place to base an adventure, as well as use as a way station in the wilderness.
Due to another round of nightly packing, the kids were able to smoothly load the bus and by 9am we were on the road. The first 30 minutes was back-tracking down the side of the lake, which was totally acceptable given the incredible landscape. Bob continued to give is pieces of info about what we were seeing, and kids moved in and out of sleep. Along our route we passed through gold rush towns, vineyards, and farmland. We stopped at a scenic overpass and then for a little while longer at a bungy jump station. Don’t worry, we didn’t jump! That being said, lots of the group were so up for it!
About 30 minutes later we made it to Arrowtown where we had lots of lunch choices and time to explore the quirky and fun town. Kids loaded up on food, snacks, and souvenirs and by 1:30 we were back on the bus. At around 2pm we pulled into Queenstown, aka the adventure capital of the world! We learned how you could do just about any sort of adventure activity in the area — from mountain biking, to jet boats, to shark boats (!! Look them up !!), skiiing, skydivng, and much more! We pulled up to the Gondola, Kate got our tickets, and then we made out way up in groups of 4 to the top where we got to soak in the panoramic view of the whole area!
After grouping up for photos we walked as a group to the top of the area, where the luge track began! The kids were then given 90 minutes to take their luge runs and explore, something they jumped at! Everyone had a blast zooming down the track and also browsing through the shop next to the restaurant. We had a check in at 4 and then the kids were then given 90 more minutes to play and explore. We gathering back up at 5:30 and most notably, several kids came back with many sheep-based items.
We had dinner in the Stratosphere Restaurant at the top of the Gondola! Not only was the view absolute perfection, the buffet was over the top on all levels. The kids gleefully dug in and ate themselves silly for a full 75 minutes. There was lots of high energy chatting, with things only slowing down for everyone to actually eat. Dessert was capped off by Steve’s birthday celebration, his second in two night!
We then made our way back down the Gondola and to the bus. Bob routed us through a new section of Queenstown for a mini tour on the way to our hotel, located only about 10 minutes away. With new roommate assignments, the kids were given 45 minutes to get settled before we had a group meeting at 8:30 where I went over info for the rest of the night and our plan for tomorrow. Mrs. Seamon-Ingalls then led the group through another journaling exercise and then everyone went up to their rooms.
Tomorrow morning we’re off at 6am to Milford Sound, located all the way out on the south west coast! We can’t wait!