Sunday

What makes me happy is the fact that I got to do everything I came to Queenstown to do even though I only have my weekends free during the day. Saturday I got the opportunity to go to Cardrona, then went out to the bars afterwards. I got to sleep in today, Sunday, and went for a hike up to the top of Queenstown Hill. It pleasantly took only an hour to get up to a 360 degree view of Lake Wakatipu, Fernhill, the Skyline Gondola, the Ben Lomond hike, Coronet Peak, the mountains towards Cardrona, Lake Hayes and Frankton, and the mountains heading up to The Remarkables.
The last few nights have been extremely cold, down to -7C, but warming up mid-day to a few degrees above freezing, and warmer in the sun. I started my hike around noon, got to the top around 1pm, and used the rocks at the top as a make-shift tri-pod to be able to video tape people skiing down the slopes at Coronet! I spent about a half an hour admiring the view and then headed down. I missed the little short cut on the way down so I had to backtrack back up the hill and then came back out on Vancouver Dr, which connects to Windsor and then to Edinburgh.
Today I also walked down into town from the house for the first time, and walking briskly and jogging on the steeper parts it only took me 7 minutes to get to where Speight's Ale House is. I went to Tony and Simone's apartment to retrieve my helmet which I left in the truck overnight, and then went walking aimlessly around town looking in souvenir shops. Just after 5pm I went to Brazz to try out a “famous Sunday Roast,” which a lot of the restaurants boast on Sundays. It was two to three slices of medium rare roast beef, very tasty, with a light gravy, roasted carrots and potatoes, a bit of cabbage, and Yorkshire pudding I think she called it. It was a nice, filling roast dinner, but for $15 I probably wouldn't get it again. While both tasty and nutritious, there are probably other dinners for around that price that would be worth getting while out at a restaurant that I wouldn't be able to make at home. I wish I could have eaten it slower without the fear of it getting cold, but unfortunately I sat too close to the door. I wish restaurants here would be a bit cozier in general so I could eat my food slowly, have some water to drink leisurely, and not worry about my food getting cold, or needing the temperature of the food to warm me up!