Up the Mountain & Through the Woods

The one thing I was told I could not miss in Queenstown was the gondola ride up the mountain. I went in the afternoon of my last day there in an effort to save the best for last. When I saw the price, however, I opted to instead hike. I would now like to say that I take issue with their description of the trail and the timeframe they gave. This "easy/moderate trail" had me on all fours in multiple places (though I fear this might have been because I sometimes lost the trail.) It might have taken me the suggested hour to reach the top if I was 1. Sprinting and/or 2. In much better shape than I am. I soon realized those two recommendations were by Kiwi and not American standards. After well over an hour of walking (read: climbing) and not quite yet at the top (read: about half way) I realized that not only would I have to climb back down, but I was loosing daylight fast. I quickly took a picture and then rather unquickly made my way back down the slippery trail. By the time I reached the bottom I had pulled out my iPod to use as a light in an (unsuccessful) effort to see where I was going.

Once down I swallowed my fugal habits and paid to go to the top. Boy, am I glad I did. Just the journey up was spectacular. (Please excuse the selfies-- they are a consequence of traveling solo & I promised my parents.)

The top wasn't bad either-- though I could have done without the couple of rather elderly men who emerged running successful on my former path with headlights. Once they headed back down they took my self esteem with them. Just to be clear the path in the picture is not the path I was climbing-- that's a luge cart racing path which is sort of a gravity powered go-kart thing. I'm told it's tremendously fun, but due to my adventure on the mountain I missed it.

I stayed up there for quite a while, despite the cold. Upon returning to my hostel I went to the outdoor concert with Phillipe (sorry if that's misspelled!), my Brazillian roommate. He was a wonderful sport, as he was nice enough to wait out the entire open mic night with me and walk around the city with me after. We went to an outdoor place set up for the winter festival made complete with pine trees, little lights, fires, and hot cider. It's amazing how much I associate the cold with Christmas, I feel like I've been in the Christmas spirt about half a year too early.

The next morning I woke up around 6:30 am to catch my bus to Dunedin. It was a longish but pleasant journey. I spent most of it looking out the window and reading. I'm going through books at an alarming rate. I've already finished five, it's as if I'm trying to make up for the last four years during which I never had time to read for pleasure. Hopefully soon I'll have access to a library otherwise I'll spend a good chunk of my fellowship on nook books.
Dunedin gets it's name from the old Celtic name for Edinburgh, Scotland (where I lived for a little bit when I was little.) It certainly feels Scottish, but despite the name I think it feels more like Glasgow. While walking past the settlers museum I saw an amusing quote about the city:

"The Scots were an odd bunch of adventurers, traveling over 10,000 miles to reach a new land only to fill it with stuff just like the place they left behind."

I soon realized I was incredibly spoiled by my first accommodation: amazing location, friendly roommates, ensuite, and a bright, inviting interior. My new hostel is certainly in a great location, but it feels a bit like the setting of a horror movie, though I think that might just be the lights.

On the plus side-- the only occupants appear to be middle aged men, who they put in other rooms. So I have a room all to myself.

This also means I have no one to talk to, but the one conversation I had all day was quite funny. I spent my afternoon/evening wandering around. I spent most of the time down at the university. It was too dark to take pictures, but my overall impression of the place was that Americans were not the only ones to destroy their campuses with large blocks of concrete that could double as bomb shelters. I'll give evidence for this point in the near future when I walk down there with more light.
In other news--I just I checked my blog analytics and it appears that more people are viewing my blog than I have members in my family, so thanks for that. I can only see how many, not who, so please do comment/email/message me if you get the chance. Also, if you would like me to send a postcard your way please include an address, and I will be sure to eventually make that happen.
"Cheers!"
Mattie