Okay, we're going a little out of order, but it's not like you all will know the difference. This past weekend, Tracy and I started out visiting Minus 5, a legit ice bar, where everything inside is made of ice, including the glasses- way fun, although wearing shorts may not have been the best idea I've ever had:
Then we went next door to the Boiler Room, where if you can guess, some alcohol was involved, which may help explain why Annette was pole dancing and Rory was trying to camoflage into the wall above our booth:
Tracy and I helped say goodbye to a couple of people- Annie's friend Helen and then Graham and Eleanor had to leave (so sad!). Of course though, we had to have proper farewells for everyone, a night of drinking for Helen and a bunch of Annie's friends:
Annie and her friend Rachy:
Me, Helen and Annette:
Annette and El drinking shots (that were poured from a teapot):
Tracy with teapot:
At the farewell barbecue for G&E, we decided to give some gifts to Annette, Rory and Graham for all they've given us (El got a real gift, it was her birthday after all):
("Love is Blind, and Partially Deaf")
("Double Fisting in NZ")
("I'm too sexy for my hat"- this is the picture we shared with you all the other day where he was wearing a sheep shagging thong on his head in public)
At one point in the barbecue, Tracy and I decided to bring out our "American tourist" outfits that we've been planning for MONTHS (unfortunately, this picture doesn't capture it, but the best part of the whole outfit is our crocs with knee-high socks):
Then we had a ridiculously beatiful day in Queenstown, that I just have to share:
Yes, that's a rainbow. We've actually figured it out- we landed in NeverNever Land. Did I mention that it's stupidly beautiful here?
Yesterday Calum, Katie and I went Canyoning in Glenorchy, about 15 minutes from Queenstown. Although we had explicitedly read the details of the trip in the booking office, we had no idea we were in for such an adventure packed day.
It was so amazing, and I must say gave you a real sense of accomplishment.
First we hiked to a zip line, harnessed in we then zipped across a canyon then abesailed into the canyon, plunged into a dozen different pools, cascaded down chutes, abseiled waterfalls and swam narrow passageways. It was only mildly difficult as the guides were very keen to help and super qualified.
It was all fun and games until the very end; we were swimming to exit one passageway when Calum turned back to me and said, "Oh watch the tree under the water there", which was just as I had banged the shit out of my leg on said tree. Then Katie (repaying me for dunking her in a pool earlier and not hearing Calum's warning of a huge branched tree) pushed me just as I was climbing over the tree which I'm pretty sure gave me a hysterectomy.
So this entry is actually half written by Katie and half by Tracy, unlike our other ones, because apparently computers in New Zealand hate us and we end up not being able to get one post up in one time (also why today there are two new posts, this one and the post below, both labeled Wednesday, although one is about last weekend and the other is about the beginning of this week).
We arrived safely to Queenstown with the Scottish family thanks to Calum's impeccable driving. (Don't even ask why Rory is not allowed to drive anymore, lets just say his wee eyes aren't what they used to be).
Annie's house is just amazing, the view of the Remarkables from her backyard is well pretty fucking remarkable.
Here's her sweet little backyard and her precious baby Beyonce:
Our first full day in Queenstown Callum and Elnore parasailed, good for El!! The yellow spec in this picture is their parachute:
We then headed to Monty's for some beer tasting and a bite to eat. Annie and Elnore on the deck:
Rory took off to buy another hat (he's obsessed with hats and, incidentally, meat pies, but more on that later). He came walking back up the hill in what we thought was a cool handkerchief on his head. Turns out it was a pair of knickers with sheep shagging on them. Good times, good times:
That afternoon we took the Gondola ride up the mountain to ride the luge and see the original Kiwi Haka show.
View from the top:
Here's my cheesy picture with the Chester Village News:
The Maori people have a very strong respect for their culture so they asked that during the formal welcoming ceremony (powhiri) for there to be no talking or laughing as this is considered a very sacred part of the show. This proved to be pretty difficult because Calum had been chosen as the strongest warrior to represent the audience. As "Chief Calum" he got on stage and was presented the Kaiana (challenge) to determine whether you come as friends or foe. This huge Maori guy basically spit and screamed and made the most horrible faces at Calum. Thank god they let us laugh later in the show when Callum was brought up again and asked to preform the gayest dance ever with some other audience members.
Here we are after the show with some of the performers, doing the traditional Maori greeting face. Pretty sweet:
The next day we headed out for bungee jumping and wine tasting, thankfully in that order. Bungee jumping is even scarier than we imagined. You see it all the time on TV, but the actual feeling of standing on the edge of the ledge, looking down, is so stomach-droppingly scary that the thought of it means instantly sweaty hands.
The two of us originally thought about jumping tandem, because it may be a little less scary, but once on sight, Tracy had a moment of bravery, suggested going solo, and everything went so quickly that scared-shitless Katie went along with it.
The sight we bungee jumped at was beautiful, and as soon as we arrived we were able to go right out, with no waiting (or time to turn back)- we were at Karawau bridge:
And luckily our bungee instructors were totally smokin hot, so that made it easier. Calum jumped first, then Tracy, then Katie. Tracy had a pretty hilarious (and also terrifying) false start after standing on the ledge for AGES, but Katie made an even bigger fool of herself by having what Annie dubbed "the gayest bungee scream ever". Thank you, Annie, for making sure this is on film. Because Tracy took so long to jump, her digital video is too large to post (unless we want to be at this internet cafe for the next 12 hours) so hopefully we'll be able to add it at a later date, but here's Katie's (and sorry, can't figure out how to rotate the shot):
After that, we were very happy to have a more relaxed afternoon touring local wineries like Gibbston Valley (where we did a tour of the cellar) and Amisfield:
All in all, an absolutely gorgeous day. Queenstown, known as the adventure sports capital of the world, has plenty more activities for us to try over the next week or so, so we'll try to keep you up to date on everything!
After Kaikoura, Tracy and I jumped on a bus to Dunedin but got off at Warrington (population: who knows, because the town is too small to even APPEAR in our Lonely Planet guide). We stopped to meet up with almost Tracy's entire family- for her family members reading this now, I may be pointing out the obvious, but for everyone else, who we're looking at here is Tracy's aunt and uncle Rory and Annette, cousins Calum and Annie, Eleanor and Graham, Annie's friends Brendan and Ro, and their kids:
Warrington was a really sweet town, really picturesque:
We all loaded into a guesthouse near the beach, and for our second night there, you'll probably not be surprised to hear that I went cockling (clam-digging) with the men:
While Tracy stayed in the kitchen to prepare dinner with the women:
The weekend was mostly fun and games, even including the Name Game (Graham combining the name game with his own expert game of Bullshit) and charades:
And some of the women also made felt balls, leading to hearing Annette pronounce the unique phrase "if you pound your balls on the table, it makes them harder":
