Wednesday, August 22, 2012

We HEART Queenstown!!!

We arrived in Queenstown 2 days ago.  We will be spending the last 5 days of our NZ trip in Queenstown.  HOLY MOLY.  Queenstown has now moved up to my #1 favorite place in the world.  It is a gorgeous city with plenty of restaurants, shopping, bars, nightlife, right in the heart of mountains and lakes.  I've always said my dream place to live would be NYC nestled in the Rocky Mountains.  Queenstown is basically that but obviously a much smaller version of NYC.  Our hotel is a block away from Lululemon which proves my theory.  When I travel for work and I'm not familiar with the area, I always search for a Lululemon because I know I'll find good restaurants and cute boutiques nearby.  This method never fails me and it holds true in Queenstown too.  

Queenstown is known as the Adventure Capital of the World.  Adventure wasn't the reason why I was drawn to Queenstown 4 years ago.  When I was backpacking, I really wanted to go to Australia before returning to the States.  Unfortunately my budget did not allow me to spend time in Australia so I was bummed.  I shared my disappointed to other backpackers that I met along the way and they all said the same thing, "Australia is cool but New Zealand is so much better.  You should plan to go there instead.  Especially Queenstown."  So that was my first intro to Queenstown.  THEN, I was watching The Bachelor - Jason Mesnick season and their final destination for the proposal was in Queenstown.  I remember seeing it and thinking, "Wow, it really is beautiful.  I MUST GO THERE SOME DAY."
So that's how we ended up here.

Once we arrived in Q, Steve and I had a strategizing meeting to put together a priority list of what we want to do, how long is each activity, and figure out which days we want to do it.  We basically want to do more activities than the days we have left so we will have a few double headers.   Other than strategizing, we've been walking around the area and taking in the beautiful scenery.  We took a gondola ride to the top of Queenstown to see the most amazing views of the area.  Our Canon point-and-shoot camera does not do this place justice.  We have never wanted a nice camera until now.  We will have to get one for our next trip here.

Another great thing about Q is the number of international restaurants.  NZ is known for their meat and fish so you have a lot of steak places and fish and chips places.  Everything we have eaten has been fresh and tasty.  Since NZ is a destination for a lot of international travelers,  they have a lot of good ethnic restaurants.  I've seen more korean restaurants in NZ than I ever did in Chicago.  Now I'm sure you're wondering why would I want to eat korean, thai, indian while I'm in NZ.  After eating fish or meat everyday, you get tired of it.  You want other types of food.   There have only been 2 trips when I haven't been tired of a country's food: Italy and Argentina.  Last night Steve and I had korean bbq for dinner followed by cookies at Cookie Time.  It's basically like Mrs. Fields but they have Cookie Happy Hour each day when it's buy 1 get 1 cookie.  Now that's my kind of Happy Hour.

So far it's been fun just being with Steve 24 x 7.  Just like any couple, friends, or family....you are rarely with someone 24x7 every single day unless it's the weekend or you're on vacation.   Even on the weekends, you will most likely have other friends with you but when you're on vacation, it's just you and the other person.  Sorry for constantly being so sappy by saying, "another thing I love about Steve..."  Well, another thing I love is that we always have something to talk about.  I know this is not unique.  It's obviously common in relationships with spouses, friends, and family.  Steve and I always have talks about serious things and broad random topics. Here are a few of the discussions we've had on our trip....

Steve vs Usain Bolt
I asked Steve if he could beat Usain Bolt in a 10K.  Usain Bolt is WICKED FAST.  But that's in a 100m and 200m race. That doesn't automatically translate into all distances.  Carl Lewis was the Usain Bolt in the 1980s but Lewis never competed in a 5K, 10K or a Marathon because he specialized in 100m and 200m.  Steve doesn't think he could beat Bolt but I think he can.  Last spring, Steve and I ran in the GW Pkway 10 Mile race against Scott Jurek (famous 100 mile distance runner mentioned in Born to Run).  Steve and Grace beat Jurek in that race.  I was only 2 minutes behind Jurek.  Now, that can mean 2 things....Jurek may not have given his best.  OR Jurek is not focused on short distances so he isn't going to be as fast as he typically would be for a 100 mile trail run.  I guess we can invite Bolt to our next 10K and see.

Animals
Since Steve is always watching National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery, etc., I ask all my nature related questions to him.  I'm not very sharp when it comes to nature and wildlife.  My questions are so elementary but he always has the patience to explain.  For example, when we were driving down the West Coast of NZ, we passed by a bunch of chickens at a farm.  I asked Steve what causes a chicken to lay eggs vs lay chicks.  He explained to me about the rooster and fertilization which then leads to laying chicks instead of laying eggs.  I'm 34 years old and I had no idea.  I don't remember us learning this in elementary school.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to a lifetime of these "deep talks".  I welcome anyone to join in our conversations....the more the merrier!!

























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