Backpacking Part Three: Queenstown
The adventure capital of the world
✒️ Written by: Abbie
We arrived in Queenstown after another full day on the bus from Franz Josef. It was about 4pm, and gloriously sunny. Having spent all day on the bus, we were eager to get outside and see what Queenstown has to offer, especially as it is coined the adventure capital of the world.
We quickly deposited our bags at the Nomads hostel and bagsied our bunk bed in the six bed dorm room before heading outside. Queenstown is only a small town, but compared with Franz Josef where we'd stayed the last two nights, it felt like a city. Furthermore, it had all the hustle and bustle of a city.
The shore of Lake Wakatipu glistened along a small beach—almost making us think we were on the coast, rather than nestled inside a mountain range the furthest south we've ever been in the world. People gathered on this beach sunbathing, reading and chatting. Along the waterfront, bars opened up their outdoor seating areas, food stalls dotted the footpath, restaurants set out their menus and everyone around us seemed so busy relaxing. Adverts for water-based adventures dotted the lakefront, and hints to other daytime adrenaline-inducing activities lingered around town and up the gondola scaling the mountain. The vibe was brilliant.
We walked up and down debating the different food options, and settled on a little pad thai stall so we could take our noodles and eat them on the beach. After that, we found ourselves at a cocktail bar during happy hour, and enjoyed a fig spritz (James) and elderflower spritz (Abbie) sitting outside in the last of the afternoon sun.
Despite the evening being in full swing, Queenstown was still warm, bright, and bustling, so we slipped and fell into a luxury ice cream parlour and ended up with two huge cones watching a local juggler performing on the street. Going by the name Jack Flash, the performer managed to break his own world record for the most juggling catches on a balance board while blindfolded right in front of us. Better yet, those catches were lit fire clubs. He’s taken his act all over the world, even to Lincolnshire it transpires, but grew up nearby Queenstown so it was the perfect place to see him perform.
Once again, we had yet another early start the next morning for our Milford Sound day trip (hold tight for a blog post all about this, coming soon!) so we grabbed some sandwiches and snacks from the local Four Square for our packup, and headed back to the hostel. We spent a while trying to work out how to use the washing machines and tumble dryers, then tried to get an early night.
It was late when we got back to Queenstown the next day, after trekking to Milford Sound and back. We still had two nights in Queenstown, this stop being the longest in our South Island backpacking adventure. We had instant noodles for tea, with the kitchen at Nomads hostel being way too far below our cleanliness standards for actual cooking. Also, the fridges smelled like rotten carcasses; it was an in 'n' out kinda job.
We had a fun-filled day ahead of us the next morning. When in the adventure capital of the world, one must simply adventure. We had each picked out an activity beforehand and today was the day to tick them off our bucket lists.
James was up first, and what did he pick? Oh, just a casual 15 minute ride inside a shark-shaped sea breacher. If you don't know what a sea breacher is (don't worry, no one does) it's basically a cross between a jet ski and a submarine. These big shark boats seat 2 people—the driver and the guest—and plunge their way around the lake, spinning in circles, gliding underwater, and jumping back up vertically. For anyone who doesn't know James, this was right up his street.
We arrived at the Hydro Attack booth and saw our shark ships waiting for us. James was in a red one, and mine was actually decked out to look like a killer whale. See the image below from Hydro Attack’s Instagram of the orca I inhabited.
We went out at the same time, which was awesome because at one point we each paused and got to watch each other circling and jumping. Both our captains were awesome, checking in on us throughout and making sure we had the most fun time possible, which we did! The experience was an incredible mix of seeing the picturesque mountains out the window, enjoying every second spinning round on the surface of the lake, being mesmerised at the blue water out the window whenever we went below, and screaming every time the shark jumped up and out. Head to our Instagram account @pumpkinsdownunder or Abbie’s Facebook to see clips from the videos we got at the end. Check out the following video from the company to see exactly what this crazy experience looked like:
It might seem like a totally scary activity, but there was no terror involved, only pure excitement and joy. I was partly worried the thrashing around would give me a headache, but aside from that there was nothing to worry about and we were both entirely fine afterwards. These things seriously need to make their way to a lake in the UK!
After swapping our fins and sharp teeth for human legs once again, we wandered in the morning sun to a bakery for a coffee and breakfast. We sat outside on a bench to eat, and lounged around beside the lake for the rest of the morning. The day was growing to be a hot one, so we were overjoyed when our next activity came around in the afternoon. My turn this time.
I’d considered a zip line experience, but instead settled on something which might seem similar to James's choice but luckily ended up being totally different. Jet boating. There are multiple companies offering this obvious activity with Lake Wakatipu sitting right there, but after a bit of research we decided to go with KJet as they offered the longest boat trip. We climbed on board and were lucky to be sitting on the front row. Our driver was a cool Aussie with a tendency to say ‘sweet as’ whenever anything good happened: a saying we have subsequently picked up and made a habit of saying multiple times a day (in the Aussie accent of course)!
We started out by taking a few practice spins on the lake nearby the dock so we all knew what we were getting ourselves in for, then headed south down the lake. Each time the boat spun round, the driver gave us a head’s up with a hand signal so we could brace ourselves. Next thing we knew we were watching the world whizz around our heads in a circle and ending the spin with a generous splash up the front of the boat. We did this several times as we made our way down the lake, and only a few minutes in to the trip we found ourselves literally flying down a small natural weir where the lake drops downhill. It was amazing!
Throughout the jet boat experience, we travelled through shallow stream-like sections of lake, which were only a few centimetres deep at points. We winced whenever it looked like we were about to scrape the hull on rocks, but every time we managed to stay afloat and zoom along at such a high speed. The driver told us this is because the boat doesn't have a conventional propeller and instead sucks water in and jets it out again to power on. We flew across these shallow beaches before turning round and heading back towards town. When we reached the weir again, I genuinely couldn't work out how we were going to get back up. Miraculously, we simply jumped upstream onto the higher level of water. Who knew boats could do such a thing?!
When the jet boat trip sadly came to an end, we begrudgingly clambered back onto the jetty and onto firm ground. Hungry from all that adventure, we found a sushi bar that offered a good veggie range and filled our takeaway boxes, taking them to a lush piece of grass beside the lake for an impromptu picnic. We lazed there in the heat for the rest of the afternoon, until cocktail o’clock when we wandered over to a bar on a boat and sat up on the deck sipping our drinks. Three different water crafts in one day is not bad going.
Feeling like we were melting alive in the sun, we decided to go to a shaded rooftop bar next for another cheeky drink before teatime. Having had such a fun day and knowing we wouldn't be anywhere so holiday-ish again for a while, we treated ourselves to a meal in a pub before heading back to the hostel and getting our bags packed once again to continue our South Island journey the next morning. Next stop: Mount Cook/Aoraki.
Queenstown, you were a dream. Stay tuned for our blog post all about our day trip to Milford Sound, which ended up being the most incredible place either of us had ever visited.