We went to check with the reception woman about our trip to Milford Sound and she advised at first that we could swap to the 9.30am flight, but in the space of time it took for her to let us know, the weather had already changed and clouded over so we kept the 1pm flight we’d booked.
We went for a walk around Queenstown to look at some of the shops for souvenirs etc, but a lot of them were either very heavy stuff or necklaces made of Jade stone which I didn’t think would be received very well by anyone I would be getting stuff for.
By the time we’d had a look around it was time to head back to the apartments to be picked up and taken to the airfield, which was about 10 minutes away. When we got there the woman advised that the pilot had been in touch from Milford Sound and it had clouded over. They were apparently having difficulty getting out so wouldn’t be able to do any more flights over there. She did offer us an alternative to do a flight around a mountain range called the remarkables. We would still get the chance to land on one of the tops where it was snow-covered. I really wanted to do a helicopter ride and was more bothered about doing that than what we saw so was still happy to go ahead. The price was a lot cheaper than the other too so it saved us some money to use on other stuff.
As soon as we agreed the pilot was on his way to pick us up and we were given a quick safety briefing explaining about where we should enter and exit the aircraft in relation to the propeller etc. After the demo it was time to board the helicopter and we all had headphones to wear with a mouthpiece so we could talk to each other. Once we were buckled in the pilot started up the engine (or whatever it is you start up on a helicopter lol). We could hear him speaking to the airport control tower getting clearance etc and then once the blades picked up speed we were rising of the ground.
The views were amazing as we flew over Queenstown and the mountains surrounding the area. Kelly said she thought that was the first time me and Phil have been so quite for so long lol. We landed on one of the mountains where it was snow-covered and had chance to walk around a bit. There were large whole in the ice where it had melted and a small stream ran under the ice. We got a couple of photo’s on the ice etc but the pilot looked like he wanted to go so we kinda rushed back to the chopper. It was an amazing experience though as you could feel it move if you hit the slightest bit of air pocket and as it was only a small chopper you felt every movement. I sat in the front on the way back and you could see for miles, but I’m sure the photo’s won’t really do it justice and will look like boring views to those back at home lol.
After we landed we headed back in the minibus to the Gondolas that take you further up the hill (there what we call cable cars). Once up in the cable chair you jumped on a kind of ski lift further up the hill and collected a bike hat and then you could pay for however many number of rides you wanted on the luge going down. The luge is a kind of one person toboggan thing that you sit in and go down a windy track down the hill. You have to start off doing the “scenic” track first to get you used to them. Scenic my arse, it was well fast lol. You hold the handle bars and use them to turn it but the handle bars also move forward and backward on a kind of gear stick so you can stop it or speed up. We did the scenic one first and flew down the track, Phil almost went over onto two wheels on one of the corners he said. He looked like an adult in a kids ride or something cos he’s so tall he had his knees sticking out each side so they didn’t bang the handle bars. My legs were flat inside the luge lol. In the way down I knew Phil would try to overtake me so kept trying to go fast and weave about on the track. You didn’t really have time to look behind you though as some of the corners were quite sharp. On one bend I decided to overtake a big lardy woman in a blue top and white hair as she was holding me up. It wasn’t easy as she kinda oozed over the edge of her luge so she was kinda like two obstacles in one. To add to it she was all over the road like someone pissed. I saw my chance on a sharp bend and cut her up and overtook her on the inside lane. No sooner had I gone past when I could sense someone close behind me. I thought “ I bet this is that big Oaf Phil” so as they tried to come along side me a swerved out to block them and said very sarcastically “Oh sorry did I block you then?” and did my best evil laugh. But when I turned the corner I realised it wasn’t Phil it was Lardy Blue Tops Hubby (oops). I bet he thought “Jesus you’re taking it a bit serious aren’t you?” LOL
As soon as we got to the bottom we couldn’t wait to get back up again on the chair lift to do the next track. Kelly said she would wait part way down the track on the next one so she could get photo’s of us and then we could do the same when she came down. We had said we would race down on this next one and so knowing how competitive Phil was I knew that no man, woman or child would be safe if they got in his way of Victory. We got to the top and Phil started to get into his luge, I was a bit further up the hill where the empty ones come out on a conveyor, so I jumped in mine and instead of getting next to him to start off, I carried on speeding past him lol. He was shouting “ I thought you were gonna race me you cheater?”, I said “I am, see ya bitch !” LOL. I couldn’t see his face but I knew he would have been fuming and be doing everything he could to catch me up. I’m sure there would be carnage behind us of injured women and children who had got in Phils way and been knocked off the track lol. I was picking up a bit of speed and trying to use all the dips to go faster and where possible not brake as I knew he’d be going hell for leather down the track to catch me up. In front of me yet again there she was, Lardy blue top…. I though “right this could be a good thing, if I can get past weaving Winnie then he’s got one more obstacle to overcome to get to me”. I was trying to overtake her for ages but she’d clearly had a few more drinks before coming down this time as she seemed to be everywhere I wanted to be. My heart was racing cos I knew if I didn’t get past her and Phil did first I’d have no chance of getting past the smurf on wheels and then Phil. I tried a couple of times but she kept blocking me so I faked a move to the left and then changed last minute and went round her to the right. The old one two gets em every time ;-). Just as I got past her I turned the next corner and the track straightened up and there it was in the distance, the finish line. This was it, I was gonna beat him, I just had to carry on full throttle past the photo finish.. I DID IT !!!! I came first. Phil must of managed to get past Blueberry Brenda cos he was next behind me cursing under his breath. When we got to the photo station to look at the pics we could her her behind us saying to her husband about Phil, “and then this other guy came hurtling past me and he was all knees” ….. Some people take these things so seriously HAHAHAHAHA.
After the luge we headed to Arrowtown for a look around as it was quite close and a bit different than where we were staying. It looked like it could have been a set for a Western movie or something as all the buildings looked like an old fashion saloon or something. The main street would have looked perfect for a cowboy set if it didn’t have all the modern day cars parked on either side. We stopped at a local pie shop that was famous for it’s gourmet pies and I had chicken and apricot and Phil and Kelly had Venison. After the pies we bought a waffle cone icecream each that took absolutely ages to eat as they were so big. We then headed to the supermarket in the car to get some stuff for dinner as we’d invited the girls over for something to eat. We got all the stuff to make a chilli and so I cooked while Phil was my Commie Chef (how ever you spell it). It was definitely not one of my best as we didn’t buy any seasoning, just a chilli packet mix. Phil was in charge of the rice but we didn’t have big enough pans, so it was 2 bubbles away from being rice pud when we dished it up, but went well with my shite chilli lol.
We couldn’t really drink as we had to be up at 5am to set off back to Christchurch for our flight so had food and some cakes the girls brought round then hit the sack.
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