Thursday mor
ning we packed up and headed out of Lake Tekapo enroute to Queenstown. On the way, we made a scenic stop at Lake Pukaki which is a very similar lake to Tekapo. We spent some time their taking pictures of the surroundings and then continued on to Queenstown. The drive became more and more scenic as we moved further south down through the country which resulted in more and more abrupt stops along the road to take snapshots of the surroundings.
Upon arrival, we recognize that Queenstown is a quaint and wonderful little town whose history is in gold mining. Its downtown area bustled with backpackers, tourists and locals. Our first order of business was to take a ride up the Queenstown gondola which provides a grand
panoramic view of the town, the lake which it sits on, and the surrounding mountains known as The Remarkables. While up at the top of the gondola, we all took in one of the local adventures known as street luge. They had two courses, a scenic and an advanced. We took on both courses before the afternoon was done and Mark took a second run at the advanced track to kick off his birthday celebration.
After riding down off of the mountain, we went in to town for a little shopping before catching up with Ken and Steve (friends of Damon and Arna that we met in Queenstown) for a little casino action to continue my birthday celebration. As we headed back to the car, we heard from a nearby balcony “Hey…..bloody Americans….go home!!” My first reaction was offense and surprise as everyone in this country has been extremely nice up to this point. I then had a trigger go off in my mind that said “Hey, I know that voice…” That was then followed up with a visual of Ken laughing his way down the staircase. After some small talk, we set a meeting time at the casino and went off to change and grab a bite to eat.
After arriving at the casino, we sat down at the roulette table to start some gambling. As we started playing, we had mixed results and I was then hit with the sobering reality that New Zealand was the first country that I’d gambled in which you have to buy your beers at full price even while actively playing the tables. I simply took this as a challenge to win enough to cover my bar bill and still not loose any money. Roulette proved profitable for one of the very few times in my experience and I then moved over to blackjack and enjoyed a bit more of birthday luck. All in all, I came out increasing my funds about six times over. Happy Birthday to me!! Too bad I’m not a high dollar gambler.
ning we packed up and headed out of Lake Tekapo enroute to Queenstown. On the way, we made a scenic stop at Lake Pukaki which is a very similar lake to Tekapo. We spent some time their taking pictures of the surroundings and then continued on to Queenstown. The drive became more and more scenic as we moved further south down through the country which resulted in more and more abrupt stops along the road to take snapshots of the surroundings.
Upon arrival, we recognize that Queenstown is a quaint and wonderful little town whose history is in gold mining. Its downtown area bustled with backpackers, tourists and locals. Our first order of business was to take a ride up the Queenstown gondola which provides a grand
panoramic view of the town, the lake which it sits on, and the surrounding mountains known as The Remarkables. While up at the top of the gondola, we all took in one of the local adventures known as street luge. They had two courses, a scenic and an advanced. We took on both courses before the afternoon was done and Mark took a second run at the advanced track to kick off his birthday celebration.After riding down off of the mountain, we went in to town for a little shopping before catching up with Ken and Steve (friends of Damon and Arna that we met in Queenstown) for a little casino action to continue my birthday celebration. As we headed back to the car, we heard from a nearby balcony “Hey…..bloody Americans….go home!!” My first reaction was offense and surprise as everyone in this country has been extremely nice up to this point. I then had a trigger go off in my mind that said “Hey, I know that voice…” That was then followed up with a visual of Ken laughing his way down the staircase. After some small talk, we set a meeting time at the casino and went off to change and grab a bite to eat.
After arriving at the casino, we sat down at the roulette table to start some gambling. As we started playing, we had mixed results and I was then hit with the sobering reality that New Zealand was the first country that I’d gambled in which you have to buy your beers at full price even while actively playing the tables. I simply took this as a challenge to win enough to cover my bar bill and still not loose any money. Roulette proved profitable for one of the very few times in my experience and I then moved over to blackjack and enjoyed a bit more of birthday luck. All in all, I came out increasing my funds about six times over. Happy Birthday to me!! Too bad I’m not a high dollar gambler.
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