Fun in Queenstown

H has been wanting to do an ice bar for a while & we just stumbled upon Minus 5 Ice Lounge in downtown Queenstown. They provided the booties, jacket & gloves. We had to leave our cameras & bought a few drinks before heading inside to cool off from the summer heat.



It was early afternoon & we were the only people there with the bartender. Even the glasses are made out of ice! It wasn't too cold (I had bare legs), but my hands were cold holding the glass even though the gloves.



Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures inside other than the ones we purchased. It's very cool, literally, to be surrounded by nice on the floor, ceilings and walls. There were a few cool sculptures & some furniture made of ice.



Next, we headed up the hill to catch the catch the skyline Gondola up the mountain. It's about a 10 minute walk (uphill) from the downtown area to reach the base of the lift.



It's not until you get up above Queenstown that you can really appreciate how spectacular the entire surrounding area is surrounded by the Remarkable Peaks.



You have a great view down Lake Wakatipu towards the bend that goes back to Glenorchy. That little flat of land between the valleys is Walter Peak high-country farm & you can take a steamship ride over there to get a little historical tour.



The steamship is at the dock in this photo & you can see all the restaurants and shops lining the water front and people enjoying a day at the beach.



The bungee people are set up on top of the mountain too if you'd rather jump from here than over a gorge.



There is also quite a bit of paragliding and hang gliding from the top of Pete's Peak.



The mountainside just above the city is green and colorful.



Here you can see the entire downtown area, the peninsula park/gardens & the the steamship just taking off from the dock.



We were eying this little valley for the evening- it's where we headed to do our moonlight hot tub adventure.



We decided to do the luge rides- it looked like a lot of fun & we were in a silly mood, so we took a chair lift even further up the mountain than where the gondola leaves you at the restaurant & observation deck.



H hates chair lifts & I love messing with him as we go up!



They have a camera perfectly positioned to snap a photo of you going up the chair lift. The background is so unbelievably gorgeous, we were suckered into buying it.



'Cause nothing looks better than a big round helmet than wearing it with a pink camo hat!



There was a beginner and an expert course on the luge tracks that generally ran side by side down the hill.



It was very crowded on the Observation deck & it was much easier to get a better picture of us on the top of the luge track.






We were also suckered into buying photos of us on the luge. It was really fun- we laughed and howled like little kids.



I think it's because you feel so goofy with the helmet & the fact that you are surrounded by something to beautiful that it doesn't even seem real.



I did mange to do a few panoramas while we were up there & used Photoshop to stitch them all together. See the full size image here

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Hanging out with the girls at a wine bar today.