Queenstown gets it’s own post because it’s that awesome. this place is some serious stuff. how serious? it’s one of those towns that is pretty much run by hip 20 yr olds from canada or europe that want to live in awesome places, but can’t afford to, and because they work pretty much every job for what has to be minimum wage (but not the crap US minimum wage) they live with 9 other expats in a 4 bd rm apartments. while we were there i heard the reference “like montana on crack” and while i’ve never been to montana or smoked crack, i would certainly be open to both if it’s anything like queenstown. in the area we stayed we walked around in all we saw were luxury rentals or luxury homes or housewives wearing lightly used workout gear picking up their kids in $100K cars on a solid wine buzz. yeah, it’s that pristine.

 

so queenstown, unlike most uber beautiful wanna be adventure areas, is actually full of ridiculously adventurous stuff to do. i think queenstown is mostly known for inventing bungy jumping, perfecting skydiving and skiing, but that’s really the tip of the iceberg. we walked into the beginning of mountain bike season and during our hikes and drives saw plenty of it as well as ATV groups, white-water rafting and jet boats. also discovered, queenstown offers the best golf in new zealand. now, as i type this, i disgust myself for being such a stepdad when it comes to our travel budget knowing we only did one of the offered summer adventure activities previously listed. we also spent what looked like a decent day going out to Milford Sound (not in queenstown) but it only got worse and worse the closer we got. as previously discussed possible in new zealand, we traveled thru a few different seasons and 5hrs later we arrived to an almost pointless cloudy/rainy/foggy cruise of the sound. i say “almost” because they did have pita pit on board and lunch was included, so yup, it’s a win. we also met a nice older couple from DC that had chosen the same day. they were your typical grandparents. “the wives” were both gone for maybe 90 seconds and the old politician got a little racist. really nothing like an elderly white guy airing out his distaste for asian tourists. anyway, here’s some video from our bungy at Kawaru bridge (our experiences were much different) and more photos from queenstown.

 

let’s keep going. Fergburger. yes, Fergburger. this place is insanely awesome and if i was Rick Ross (link about wing stop) I would franchise this place in a heartbeat. in our few days in Queenstown we went to this place twice, back-to-back. caroline got the same thing, Southern Swine, and I got the Mr. Big Stuff (of course) and the Chief Wiggum. i wish we would have taken more and/or better documentation of the unbelievable mouthgasms that took place. it’s also worth noting for our lunch with the egg farmer “from chicago”. a very nice couple on their honeymoon who claimed to be from chicago but ended up living closer to the university of Iowa than actual chicago. here’s a transcript from our lunch:

random couple (husband): american?

mogans (hogan): yeah! you?

random couple (husband):  yeah, us too

mogans (hogan): nice! where abouts?

random couple (husband): chicago

mogans: us too! (major excitement from both to make hometown friends)

mogans (hogan): we live in the West Loop, well, really… Greektown.

random couple (husband): oh, yeah, sure.

mogans (caro): where do y’all live?

random couple (husband): do you know where rockford is? we are near that area, around galena.

mogans (hogan): uh, what? like near the iowa boarder?

random couple (husband): yeah, up in wisconsin…

 

we capped off the queenstown experience by sitting in some oxygenated spring water hot pool thing. i think its more intended to be a romantic honeymoon spot than a rejuvenation bc there were lots of newlyweds. we pretty much stormed into the place like they opened up ice baths for walk-ons. here’s a bunch of pics and videos from our last hike in New Zealand and the reason we booked an hour in a hot pool.

 

please.do.enjoy