Day 17: Still thinking about the donut

The theme of today was eating way too much food and over patronising a single company.

The biggest advantage of today was staying in the same town as yesterday, meaning: no driving for me! It also meant that I walked a lot and closed my exercise ring twice over... which was good in light of the meals ahead.

My big destination for the day was the Skyline Gondola, which can be seen looming over my campsite. But I walked away from it into town to pick up my tickets. All the way down the hill,  towards the view of the mountains, which was rather pleasant - at least in this direction.

I had been given a list of places to eat in Queenstown by friends who had been to NZ before, so to get them all ticked I started early with breakfast in town at Fergbaker. This sounds like a hardship, but truthfully I love a good bakery and have already eaten more pies on this trip than I would ever have at home (I think NZ might have us licked for pies, by the way). Someone, I think Pete, had mentioned venison pies and since I had never had venison, this was my chance. I also had a Boston Cream Donut which Jess and I agree are the best donuts in the world and I WILL be picking up another one on my way out of town tomorrow. This is high praise because I'm not a huge donut fan in the first place. Mum, you would LOVE these - the donut is just an excuse to eat a huge bubble of cream.

After consuming my baked goods with glee, I collected my tickets for the Gondola and headed back up the hill... stopping about halfway to, if not entirely regret, wish I had postponed the aforementioned bubble of cream.

At the top of the hill was the Skyline Gondola, marketed as a great way to see the city of Queenstown, and they weren't wrong.

I do enjoy a good skylift. I think part of it is being up so high? I'm not entirely sure the motivation there. Either way, good fun. At the top was a great viewing platform and restaurant, but the best part of the centre at the top, hand down, were these awesome 'paintings' made from thousands of Jelly Belly jelly beans. I applaud this level of commitment. Forget those jewel sticky paintings, I'm here for the jelly beans.

When Jess went to New Zealand a few months ago, she raved about the Skyline Luge and how much fun she had, so I kind of let her talk me into it. I'm not sure it's something I would have done otherwise. But she was right because it was fantastic.

Up the mountain even further I went, this time by chairlift. I've never been on a chair lift, being thoroughly of the opinion that strapping sticks to your feet and throwing yourself off a mountain is a dumb idea, but managed it surprisingly well after a moment's panic.

When you first go on the luge, you have to do an easier 'blue' track before any others and I completed it with the anticipated level of awkward gracelessness. I couldn't get into the luge skillfully and ended up just collapsing into it. I didn't turn far enough and smacked into the boundary right at the start before the course even started. And I stopped, hopped out, and helped a poor little kid who was stuck mid-way and couldn't move... but then of course I couldn't move my luge so I'm scooting inch by inch trying to get some momentum. Embarrassment was high and I was cursing Jess internally. This is not fun Jess.

But I had paid for six turns, so I figured I'd go at least one more time. Up on the chair lift, laughing at the number of phones littering the rocks beneath, and lined up for the 'red track' which I had apparently graduated to despite my lack of finesse on the first round.

And it was awesome! So much faster, so many turns and drops and way better then that stupid blue track.

The motto of the luge is 'once is not enough', and they're right. Frankly, six was not enough. I would have loved a third, much longer track. Jordan C and Wendy - you would have loved this so much.

Sad that my time at the luge was over, back down the hill I went for lunch, planning to stop at the famed Fergberger. There was a queue that spanned past the neighbouring three stores, as this is a must-stop place in Queenstown, but I was rather surprised by how fast the queue actually moved. This is where all the New Zealand travellers yell at me but, while the burger was perfectly nice, it wasn't anything special. I got the Fergberger (since that is the standard they're known for), and I do think some of the other items on the menu looked more exciting, but overall: just a burger really.

After lunch I wandered about town, looked at some shops, found a really soft stuffed Kiwi for Evelyn, the new niece who had the temerity to be born while I was out of the country, and revisited my friends the ducks. After wandering for an hour or so, I returned to the third of the three Ferg establishments, Mrs Ferg, and picked up a gelato to round out my day of gluttony. Peanut butter and banana and salted caramel gelato for the climb back up the hill.

I got back to the van a little earlier than I would have liked but that gave me the chance to take a shower* and make a cup of tea in the kitchen before the horde descended.

Animal Sightings:

• ducks
• a few dogs

Today's Playlist:

Do Go On #24: Monty Python

Every Little Thing: Rapture Chasers

Every Little Thing: The Hide Rug of the Plant World

Every Little Thing: The Senate Whisperer

Every Little Thing: The Quest to Wipe Out a Virus

Every Little Thing: This is an Activation

Plumbing the Death Star #317: Would You Attend the Party Depicted in the Song 'Monster Mash'?

Reply All #11: Did Errol Morris' Brother Invent Email?

Reply All #12: Back End Trouble

Reply All #13: Love is Lies

Reply All #14: The Art of Making and Fixing Mistakes

Sawbones: Tuberculosis

Science Rules #16: What's a Psychopath?

Science Rules #17: Big Problems, Tiny Solutions

Unprompted & Unwanted #7: Questions

Unprompted & Unwanted #9: Questions and Friends

Unprompted & Unwanted #10: Sauce

Unprompted & Unwanted #11: (Not)Packing

Unprompted & Unwanted #12

Daily Stats:

Kilometres travelled: 0 by car (3258 in total)

Minutes of hot water enjoyed in the shower: 10 (take that 6 minute timers everywhere!)

Times I closed my exercise ring: 2.5

Number of donuts I wish I had bought from the bakery: 2.5 (lies. 10.)

*this place has free, unmetered, hot water. This is the holy grail of campsite amenities and you must take full advantage of it.