Journal #10: Queenstown
Date: 3/11/16
Cover Photo: “All the Above”
Sheep Spotted: 0
My final day in Queenstown! I realized looking back that I’ve posted only one photo in Queenstown (from Journal #1) which is a shame since the area is incredibly beautiful- so for today’s featured image, I give you the view from the awesome Queenstown Hill which looks over the entire city.
Here’s also an image from the neighborhood that Philip lived in (Fernhill):
The stay here has been smooth from start to finish: the epic drives and corresponding hikes (Wanaka, Glenorchy, and Mount Cook), the AirBnb with Philip, the 3 day trip on the Routeburn, and of course, the Beer.
Next time I’m here I would like to do the following things (all of which I’ve heard are awesome): Ice Climbing on the Franz Josef Glacier, the Milford Track (4 day hike on the Milford Sound), Seaplane/Helicopter ride around the Milford Sound, renting a car with 4-wheel drive and going deeper into Mount Aspiring National Park, and either taking a Helicopter over or climbing to the top of Mount Cook.
Tomorrow morning I head off to Christchurch-which is on the opposite (East) coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Christchurch is a medium sized city still in the process of rebuilding after a massive earthquake rocked it in 2011. When I’m there I’ll be spending a few days in the city, a night at Lake Tekapo (one of the best places for star gazing in New Zealand), and finally doing an awesome Lord of the Rings tour of the “plains of Rohan” which was one of my favorite locations in the movie.
Before my final night was over, I did take one last trip to the Craft Beer Bar. Here are my reviews:
1) Garage Project- “Gargista” IPA: Mild tasting- hops sweet but not particular fresh. Bartender says, “That’s how most NZ grown hops taste.” Evidently the IPA I reviewed before used American hops. Like most NZ IPA’s, this would be classified as a “Session” in the US since it is roughly 6% in alcohol.
Interesting note: Session IPAs in New Zealand are super light- running at about 4%. I had a sample of one (name not worth remembering)- and it tasted like beer-flavored water with a little bit of lemon squeezed in.
2) 8 Wired- “Tall Poppy” Red Ale: Red Ales have become one of my favorite beer styles due to their complicated bitter flavors and generally hoppy finish. That said, New Zealand Red Ales tend to be more on the smooth, sweeter side of things. Despite being about 7% in ABV, this beer goes down surprisingly easy.
3) Mac’s- “Black Porter:” Interesting bottle design- attached to the cap is a little bar that you can use to open the bottle. Light chocolate tasting porter- easily one of the lightest porters I’ve ever drank at only 4.5%
4) Speights- When I was on the Routeburn Track, our two options for beer were either Speights or Heineken (which as we all know has the taste of a lager brewed with Salt water). I chose Speights, which is the Southern Islands most widely distributed beer (think Budweiser or Miller). It is a light lager- roughly equivalent to an American light beer at about 4%. Like most widely distributed lagers, you won’t find a lot of flavor in this beer, but I will bestow upon it a compliment that no American light beer will ever earn from me: It tastes like Beer.
