Queenstown

I moved on to Queenstown yesterday. The InterCity bus did a short stop at a fruit stand in Cromwell, where the passengers loaded up on peaches, cherries and plums from the orchards nearby, then, just after 4pm we arrived in "The Adrenalin Capital of New Zealand." Appropriately, as we pulled into the bus stop, we could watch 3 paragliders doing lazy circles over main street. We rolled into town via Arrowtown and the Gibbston Valley, which is lined both sides with pinot noir vineyards.

Queenstown is sited on beautiful Lake Wakatipu, opposite an immensely attractive mountain range, called The Remarkables. This is the place where you can bungy jump, tandem sky dive, river surf, jet boat, river paddle, mountain bike to your hearts' content. There are plenty of outfitters here who will happily relieve you of your cash.

Just for fun, I went and priced out a coach/cruise/fly back by Cessna trip from Queenstown to Milford Sound. The booking office looked like a plush hotel lobby, so that gives you an idea just how profitable these trips are to the local economy.

After I recovered from the price, I'm at an internet cafe, where I can get the cheapest internet yet: $3/hour, with a discount if you have a BBH card, a YHA card, or several other options.

Back in the C19th, Queenstown was a goldrush "town" called "the Camp." It rebranded itself to Queenstown, but the goldrush spirt is alive and doing very well here.

Still, I had a great surprise today, in town. I was walking back from my survey of the town, looking for public telephone booths that might have a shelf in them wide enough to hold a laptop. I'm doing this odd activity because I have a couple of phone job interviews to do back to Australia this afternoon, and it would be nice to have a relatively quiet location in which to do them. Anyway, I saw two people ride by on fully loaded folding Bike Fridays. Now, I have been chatting via email with a couple of Seattle cyclists that I've never met in person, yet we have a friend in common. Exactly what Facebook and LinkedIn do, but way better. Real people, a real handshake. Well, well. It's them. Hi Ermanno and Mary!

It's rare enough to see other cyclists on folding bikes in New Zealand. So this meeting is super sweet. They're off to Te Anau soon, and both look buffed and tanned and obviously having a great time. Happy trails!

Me, I'm off to the phone box for some job interviews. Still, tomorrow I may get a free ride out to the start of the Routeburn track with a couple of Canadians who are staying at my hostel.

Life's sure a trip right now.