There and Back Again: A Study Abroad Tale: Queenstown Excursion Day 1

Hey all! It's me again! Finally back to blogging and adventuring after about 2 weeks of being sick and catching up with homework (ugh!). This past weekend I was able to go on an awesome trip with my ISA group to Queenstown, about 3.5 hours west of Dunedin. We were able to stay over night thanks to the holiday weekend (Monday was ANZAC day, which I'll talk about more later).

The excursion started Saturday morning bright and early. The group met at 7:30 to meet up with our advisers and get on the bus. We drove a few hours to stop at an orchard famous for their real fruit ice cream (a welcome treat after the early morning brought upon us). Walking in the store reminded me a lot of Fifer Orchards (cue homesickness), but the excitement of ice cream brought be back to good old New Zealand. I bought a mango real fruit ice cream (vanilla ice cream mixed together with mangoes, YUM!).

The inside of the country store

My delicious mango ice cream!

Enjoying the fall colors of the orchard

After ice cream and some picture taking it was another couple of hours on the bus to get the rest of the way to Queenstown where we met up with the rest of the ISA group that went early to go bungy jumping (such brave souls). As we couldn't check into our hostel until about 3 pm we took a trip over to Arrowtown to take part in their Autumn Festival. Here they have tons of stalls to buy nifty New Zealand goods and to try some awesome food. A friend and I made our way to the Arrowtown Cafe for some lunch. I had a pie (filled with steak, bacon, and cheese) with mashed potatoes, gravy, and peas. Quite the meal! After lunch we had some time to explore, and made our way down to the Arrow River. FUN FACT! The Arrow River was used to film the scene in Fellowship of the Ring where Arwen crosses the river while being chased by the Nazgul and uses her elven magic to keep them at bay with riptides. I'M BREATHING IN THE MAGIC OF MIDDLE EARTH! I touched the same waters as Liv Tyler and Elijah Wood, and any of you that know me should know that's a huge deal!

The autumn colors of Arrowtown to compliment the festival

Looking down the Arrow River

Walking by the river

A look into Arrowtown, once a hub for panning for gold

After a thorough explore of Arrowtown the ISA crew met back up for our return to Queenstown, but not without a quick stop to watch some bungy jumping. New Zealand has several locations where you can bungy jump, the tallest being the Nevis bungy which is over 400 feet high (wicked scary!).

The bungy bridge

The view from the balcony. Such beautiful water!

The couple that bungies together stays together

Almost to the bottom

They made it!

Safe to say that I will probably never go bungy jumping! I'll admit that it takes some serious guts. Props to all of the ISA crew that bungied!

Finally it was on to Queenstown. We had the rest of the day as free time to ourselves, so we first got dinner (a couple of friends and I ate at a wonderful Japanese restaurant) then it was out to experience Queenstown nightlife! Our first stop was the Minus 5 Ice Bar. Parkas and gloves were provided as we stepped into the -8 degrees Celsius room made entirely of ice. The walls were made of ice, the tables were made of ice, the chairs were made of ice. Even the cups were made of ice! Here I ordered a chilly vanilly (made with Absolut vodka, and quite tasty). Next it was on to Cowboys, though we didn't stay here very long. The bar was super crowded and their mechanical bull wasn't working (so why even bother?!). Last stop of the night was a bar called Winnie's, and that one was probably my favorite. It had a huge dance floor, awesome tunes, and overall was a really great time! A great experience for my first time going out to the bars in New Zealand.