Queenstown is the adventure capital of the world and yet we find a bunch of other activities to fill our day! We are not total thrill seekers so we skipped the bungee jump, skydive, zorbing, and other crazy ridiculous life threatening activities. We did go on a jet boat ride, hung out in an ice bar, and enjoyed a fabulous gondola to the top of Queenstown.
Skyline Queenstown
We arrive into Queenstown on a cloudy rainy day, but nothing that would stop us from exploring. We start our day with the Skyline Gondola ride to the top of the mountain overlooking Queenstown. It is a cold day so we are bundled up! Each car takes 4 people or 2 people and 2 bikes. You can ride up the gondola and take a mountain bike trail down or a luge down.
We hop on the gondola car and enjoy a leisurely ride up the mountain. Unfortunately, it was still a cloudy, drizzly day once we got to the top so our views weren’t spectacular, but they were still very pretty.
We had planned to luge down the mountain, but the cold and rain made that a very unpleasant option so we just enjoyed a nice leisurely ride back down the mountain in the gondola.
Fergbruger
One of the best burgers in town can be found at Fergburger! It is so popular that you are guaranteed to wait in line for at least an hour just to place your order. But, it is soooo worth the wait! This was truly one of the best burgers we have ever had – even better than In N out! Yummmy, highly recommend it if you visit Queenstown!
Shotover Jet Boat Rides
Our first adventures in Queenstown is a jet boat ride with Shotover Jet Boats. We start out with a few photo opps just because we could…
We get suited up in our life jackets, stowed our hats, and jumped in the flatbottom boat. Our driver Peter gives us the safety protocols and we are off down Shotover river which is exclusively dedicated to Shotover boats. The landscape is wall to wall pristine beauty and canyon action.
I’ve never been on such a thrilling ride in my life. We were inches away rocks, boulders, branches, and canyon walls. It was exhilarating, frightening, and completely amazing!
These boats reach top speeds of 90 kilometers an hour and can fly over water in depths as shallow as 2″! The drivers train for 8-10 weeks before they are allowed on the river.
Peter, our expert driver puts the Jet Boat through its paces, riding the rapids and performing thrilling, gravity-defying stunts within a hair’s breadth of the awe-inspiring cliff faces.
We did dozens of 360s, zipped up and down the river, and screamed loads of joy for 35 minutes! One of the best rides of my life! They give 1100 people trips per day with each driver making 12 trips evert day!
The Ice Bar
For some reason, they have several ice bars in Queenstown and I had to go to one! We decided to go to Minus 5 Ice bar which is right on the wharf. Not really sure why I insisted on going to an ice bar when it was already 15C outside (which is pretty darn cold). But, I had to go! They provided us with cozy warm jackets, gloves, hats and special rules for being in the ice bar.
The ice bar is made of solid ice and the temperature is -9C! The walls, the bar, the furniture and even the glasses are all made of ice! They even have a half dozen ice sculptures around the bar. Ice makes up the solid bar and benches for seating.
They have amazing sculptures throughout the bar. Artists touch up the sculptures every 3 months and replace them every 9-10 months. Every 45 minutes the staff rotate in and out of the ice bar so they do not have to endure the cold for too long.
The drinks are delicious and served in pure ice glasses. You pre-pay for your drinks and we paid for 2 each. We drank rather quickly as it was freakin cold in there!
We had a fabulous 45 minutes inside before we decided to get out and warm up! Matt wore flip flops (or jandals as they are called here) inside the ice bar!
We stepped in next door to the Public Kitchen Bar where they had the most tasty desert cocktails.
Recap of the Day:
All in all it was a spectacular day with a gondola ride, jet boat ride, and a trip to the every so cool ice bar!
- Kilometers Traveled: 70km
- Hotel: Whistler Apartments
- Kilometers Walked: 8.3km
Events from this blog occurred in early March. Our blog posts are 10-12 weeks behind actual events. e are puzzled at Puzzling World and make a stop at the Transport and Toy Museum during our last blog – check it out.