Actually, that’s a lie. In fact I had a bit of a lie in. The bed was so comfy… no need to change things! I did however make a nice omelet (which frankly I missed having ketchup with). James, a gentleman from the US was having problems with the computer he was using so I happily lent him mine. He was very thankful but I was more than happy to do it.
I packed a PB and J lunch and took off to find a nice place to eat. Along the way I rented a Frisbee… yes… it was time for my immersion into the world of disc golf! Queenstown has an excellent course in the middle of their big park – for $7NZD I was able to rent a disc and also pick up a scorecard. Not a bad price at all.
Now, let’s get one thing straight. It is true that I play ultimate back home and I think I’m okay at it. Here’s the difference though: in ulty, the players can happily move around and toward you. The holes and other targets in disc golf, not so much.
So it was with not much surprise that I ended up after nine holes with some kind of miserable score like 12 over par. I’d dig up my scorecard but I’m not really into schaudenfreude right now.
But then something happened. A gentleman who appeared to be one of the local pros was very helpful in showing me some disc handling technique. And then everything went right on the par 3 11th hole, with this tree as the target.
To quote the guy from RDS’ old Défi Mini-Putt tv show: BIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!
Yuppers. I was dumb struck.
And then later on I was joined by Rolf and his dog (no, they weren’t from The Muppet Show – get off it!). It was nice to have someone to play the end of the round with.
Following the golfing experience and the pic-a-nic lunch (thank you, Boo-Boo) I headed up the gondola to get a great view of the city. As an additional bonus, they also have a mountain luge for a small cost.
Long way home, then!
I’d have one with me in the luge but frankly I wasn’t shelling out 12$ for the honour.
And then I went BUNGY JUMPING!
Not really, actually.
I stuck to the viewing area. Trust me, though, I did consider it. And then I asked myself, why would I jump (and in this case, run and jump) off a perfectly good bridge. Maybe one day.
I walked back to the lodge, made some pasta - the kitchen was in great shape so I decided to profit from it. The only problem travelling so much is that as I’m taking public transport (ooh, how Channel Four Lost! of me) it makes it hard to buy “long term groceries”. Except for PB and J, and frankly you can’t go wrong.
I was taking it easy just updating the blog when some bewildered tourists walked in. They looked like they couldn’t speak English. I heard them pipe up with some French, and it was go time. Turns out they were from Nancy, which is about an hour from Strasbourg by train. This put them at ease.
Turns out their car had stalled in front of the lodge and unfortunately it was booked up for the night. However Sofia called a friend at another establishment and got them a room. At this point I was playing translator! It’s like riding a bike; as long as you do it once in awhile things really come back. And I am a French teacher after all…
I offered to help them reach the other side of Queenstown to make sure that they got there, which they took me up on. We navigated the streets quite well… but then the car just didn’t want to make it up the steep enough hill. I wondered internally what we would be doing at that point… and it turned out some friendly kiwis pointed us in a different direction where the grade wasn’t as bad. We made it to the lodge, and after some more dubbing with the manager of this lodge, they were settled.
They insisted on driving me back – and I would have none of it. First of all it wasn’t necessary, and secondly I figured that they should probably leave the car where it was. They mentioned that they were going to try and get a replacement car the next day (although no time credit would be given for this unfortunate incident – Phil K.).
Just before parting ways they gave me their email and insisted that the next time I was in France that I come and stay with them. I look forward to taking them up on their offer.
I walked down to the waterfront to head to Patagonia’s to enjoy a homemade gelato which I figured was well deserved. Got back to the lodge, told the story a couple of times and the headed off the bed.
In the next post: what promised to be a very, very exciting day.
Cheers,
Vick.
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