Day 4 Queenstown

A short early morning flight on Jet Star brought us to Queenstown; our first step outside the airport was all it took to realize we had arrived in paradise! Although the rooms at the Novotel hotel were quite small for a family of four; the location is very central, the design very contemporary and the service leaves no room for complaints. The smaller rooms are a blessing in disguise in this city; where any time spent away from the scenery outdoors would be a sheer waste!  My description about the beauty of this majestic town set on Lake Wakatipu will not do any justice; the pictures may to some extent. You have to experience this to fathom it and I like anyone else who has spent anytime here can vouch for that! We took the Skyline Gondola to the top and started our first little family adventure- "Luging" in this Adventure capital of the world.  Me and Parishi had to abandon our "Luge" mid-way  and walk on the track after it ditched us; while Chinmay and Kahan were done and waiting for us, giggling at our disaster!! The clear blue skies dotted with paragliders inspired me to try it out; my slight hesitation was overcome by Chinmay's encouragement! My first paragliding experience after a parasail in Hawaii seven years ago was quite thrilling; the adrenaline rush was nowhere near Chinmay's upcoming Bungy jumping! Nonetheless, my wish to fly as a child was nearly fulfilled!  Parishi had made friends with a large group of "Global Gujarati travelers" from London who were on a 'Desi style conducted tour' impressing them by talking in Gujarati to the extent that they started complaining how it is so hard for them to have their kids keep the language! We continued to explore this quaint city and its beautiful streets. Lunch  at "Hell" was a vegetarian pizza followed by a dessert pizza. Dinner at "Devil's Burger" was a yummy giant falafel burger. I could not help worry about the consequences of these daily 800 calorie meal indulgences and the ice cream snacks!

P.S- I am so glad I am almost caught up; today's trip to Milford sound to be posted tomorrow (hopefully!) Also plan to supplement this with pictures as and when I can. This blog is mainly for all you friends, who will visit this beautiful country in the future to make the travel planning easier and also for us so that we don’t have to scratch our memory cells when we plan our second trip to NZ!!