Don’t you let go… Don’t let go… Reach!

A very nice, relaxing start this morning, with a long sleep-in, and a late breakfast at Joe’s Garage (pikelets!), before meeting up with the group at 12pm to drive to Arrowtown.

It’s a really quaint little town, with cute little streets and alleys, shops and restaurants. Our first stop was The Old Smithy to pick up jewellery some of us had preordered (and for some people, to buy some new things).

We then had some free time to explore the town and get some lunch. We ran into a bunch of others from the group when searching, so ended up going to a bar & grill type place together and had some great food. I had a really nice pulled chicken sandwich.

By the time we had all eaten and had our drinks, it was nearly time to leave, so I didn’t get much of a chance to take photos. Soon enough, we headed off to the Kawarau Bridge where they have bungy jumps and zip lines.

We spent a little time there, watching the jumpers (none from our group ended up jumping). Bill did however do the zip line, and we all cheered him on from the sidelines.

Then back to the hotel, for our group farewell dinner. We had a great buffet, and of course the customary chat ‘n’ a laugh. After our meal, our group leader and guide Julie gave a nice speech and handed out prizes to various people (I got the photography one!).

Then Martijn, Jess and Barbara all said a few words too. It’s really nice to hear how everyone in the group enjoyed the trip so much and became really close friends. Hearing what it meant to everyone, especially those who hadn’t travelled overseas much (or at all!), was quite lovely. We’re planning to do our own group dinner tomorrow night as well since we don’t leave until Monday, so it wasn’t goodbye exactly.

A bunch of us did all go out after dinner also, to Minus 5 (an ice bar), which is basically what it sounds like. A room made of ice with ice sculptures, ice cups, ice everything; and it’s freezing cold and there’s neon lights and loud music. Not my usual scene, but it was a fun experience.

And on the way there, I snapped a real quick phone picture of the lake, since we were walking past it and it was so picturesque (terrible quality, but the scene was so nice that it doesn’t matter).

I’m really hoping to explore Queenstown tomorrow, but apparently it’s going to rain 🙁 I really hope not, as the small amount I’ve been able to see has been amazing, so I’m keen to see more and capture some of it if I can.