Also, this meant that I could go back to sleep and so I had a very lazy morning compared to the past two. I decided that I would spend the day doing some shopping and just enjoying the town. I figured I could use a lower key day after the last few days of high energy excitement. I did manage to find a few shirts to buy and it was actually a lot of fun to see what they sold in the stores.
Unfortunately, I could never have brought many of the things in the stores back to Australia (or the U.S. for that matter) without having them confiscated at customs. This, of course, refers to all of the food and wooden souvenirs. In any case, I decided to go pretty simple and get a few shirts that I liked. I almost bought a set of glass coasters, but I decided that I didn’t really like them and they wouldn’t go particularly well with my furniture anyhow. I figure that the best souvenirs I will have will be the photos and memories from the trip.
I was surprised (and in some cases a bit disturbed) by the selection of items that were available. The New Zealand people refer to themselves as Kiwis (after the bird, not the fruit). So, many items had cartoon kiwis on them. Sheep and goats were also popular. However, there were a disturbingly large quantity of items that depicted cartoon kiwi, sheep, and sometimes goats in rather suggestive situations – to keep things PG here. While some of it was hilarious, I could never see spending money on something like that because I would clearly never wear something like that in public.
I had dinner at a French restaurant near the lakefront. I had their lamb rack served on garlic potatoes with a grilled portabella mushroom. I also had a side salad with a great light summer-type dressing. Finally, I decided to try their cheeseboard for desert. It featured cheese from New Zealand (though it also included Brie), crackers, grapes, and a good apricot spread. Sure enough, New Zealand goat cheese was one of the varieties!
After dinner, I spent the evening and sunset walking around the garden area along the lake on the other side of town (compared to last night). The weather today was not nearly as clear and picturesque as it has been over the past few days. However, the evening was still spectacular. You know somewhere is truly amazing when it even looks spectacular on a cloudy day… The clouds flirted with the peaks of the mountains creating a misty, almost magical effect. Though the sunset lacked the spectacular colors and clarity of last night, this sunset was special in its own way. Again, I spent the evening out along the lake just enjoying the view until it finally got dark.
Tomorrow, I will say goodbye to Queenstown (at least for now). As I get ready to leave, I find myself reflecting on what was a great vacation. I had so much fun and I feel like I did so many things while I was here. Often, I have seen many folks busy working on their computers or consumed by checking e-mail and Facebook during the day. I’m so glad that I don’t feel the need to do that constantly. With the exception of sleeping in this morning and watching the second half of the Super Bowl (/napping through most of it), I spent essentially every hour of daylight during this visit up and out doing things and experiencing the town, the activities, or just the scenery… I have checked e-mail a few times in the evenings before bed and taken some time to write these notes (once the sun had completely gone down), but I’m so glad that I could separate myself from work and the ‘information craze’. It’s too bad that some people can’t do this and I really feel bad for them because I think they’re really missing out on something special.
At Penn State, Jess always used to say (and she often lived it too – though often because of studying) that she’d sleep when she was dead. That’s essentially how I looked at this trip. I wanted to be dead-tired at the end of the day because I wanted to do as much and enjoy as much of this place as I could. I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else but along the lake watching the sunset or riding horses through the countryside or maneuvering a raft down ridiculously crazy awesome rapids… Sometimes I feel like the world would be just a little better off if people were a little more in-tune with capitalizing on the truly special and unique opportunities in life… So, with that thought on life, I’ll say goodnight! Tomorrow I’ll be back in Melbourne and, unfortunately, I don’t think the sunset won’t be quite as spectacular…
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