The dawn of Monday
the 19 dec was as lackadaisical as a lazy hippopotamus ling down in a slushy
pond. Too lazy to even stretch our legs , breathing is involuntary or else
probably we would complain of that too. We were leaving rotorua today and
proceeding to the south island of new Zealand to the adventurous town of
quenstown. The thought of queenstown was exciting for it offers arguably the
worlds best adventure sports and breathtaking nature . Phone rang breaking the pleasant silence which
was hovering in the room, it was indeed the wake up call but we were kind of
already up just waiting for the call to actually get off the bed. Human
psychology is so amazing that even if we wake up 5 minutes before the alarm we
will still wait for the alarm to ring and try to catch up 5 minute sleep as if
it is going to make any difference. Some amount of packing was left which we
did after freshening up and proceeded to the restaurant for the buffet
breakfast . there was a huge confusion between the pork and chicken sausages
and we ended up eating pork ones assuming it to be chicken. Human psychology
again here.. when we ate the sausages we relished it like we had not eaten for
years but when we did come to know it was pork and not chicken it felt like we
were having reverse peristalsis and were about to puke out the whole thing
out!!! Nonetheless it was yummy and we didn’t care much. The shuttle to the
airport would arrive at 0730 hrs and we were in the foyer by 0725hrs with our luggage . the airport was
was a 20 minute drive to he suburban part of the town .
If u go to any small town in india by bus the bus stand u would see will resemble the rotorua international airport. It was a one storey building not more than 30 metre in width with a board displaying the name of the airport. We looked at each other in utter shock and surprise as we could not digest the fact that it indeed was the airport. Nevertheless we bid bye to the shuttle guy and dragged ourselves and luggage into the lounge . the ticket counter resembled a village cinema theatre like set up with two ordinarily dressed middle aged women asking u for ur check in formalities. She would also sell you tickets in case u needed one.
After checking in the luggage we proceeded to the lounge which ended before it started. It was a tiny lounge which could accommodate not more than 75 people at its maximum. And the café made sure that space was lessened but then it was a must there. We would get our boarding pass from the counter after paying a 5 $ airport development fee!!! Indeed they needed more of it looking at the state of the airport there. We made ourselves comfortable in the lounge couch and then bought some potato chips to munch. We had never come across a chicken flavored chicken chips and we bought it and had it . we loved it and had one more;) . our flight did arrive soon and we embarked it . the flight was a small 60 seater ATR operated by a low cost operator called mt.cook airlines.
The on board air hostess greeted us with a smile which outlined the wrinkles she had on her face , a minimum of 20. Her age must have been not less than 55 by our wildest guess. And to see her serve us water and biscuits did not feel great but we had no option. The flight was a scenic journey ever since we entered the territory of the south island of new Zealand. Now for all those who are confused let me explain. New Zealand comprises of two big islands. South island and north island and each island has different cities. We had complete all the cities in north island except wellington where we did not opt to go and were now proceeding to the south island. The flight was a 4hr journey and we decided to spend time by playing NPATC( Name, place, animal, thing, cinema) a game which we played last when we re probably 10 year old. But we had great fun doing that. Queenstown is a beautiful city with lot of mountainous and hilly terrain with large rivers bisecting it and the birds eye view from the aircraft is truly exhilarating and out of the world!
We were just soaking in all of it when the flight started its descent and it was like a Indiana jones movie with the aircraft cruising between hills at considerable speed. It’s a sight which one must see to believe !! the flight then finally landed and we disembarked. It was windy and chilly although it was sunny and the airport just beautiful like the city itself. We collected all the pamphlets and brochures available for activity there and collected our luggage and proceeded to the pick up . the shuttle took us to the city giving us a nice panaromic view of the city and finally dropped us to our hotel which was scenic suites queenstown . the hotel was beautiful and classy and had only suites on offer . we freshened and then went walking to the city centre and found this amazing restaurant called Bombay palace which promised tasty authentic Indian food.
We ordered for chicken biryani,butter chicken and chicken tikka. The host was friendly coming from a town near delhi and told us a few things about the city. The restaurant was nice and peaceful till a group of gujarati elderly people entered. A group of 4 couples made enough noise to destroy the peaceful ambience of the restaurant and all they ordered were 3 rice and 2 paneer butter masala. They then asked for complimentary onions ,papads, pickles and complained that curry had less spice and rice was half cooked and then asked for little extra gravy and then told the hotel guys not to charge etc. We were having fun looking at their behavior but they got a lot of stares of disgust from some of the non Indians in the restaurant. We were filled upto our throat and went walking back to the restaurant to digest a little whatever we had overeaten. We then slept after a morning full of travel and food etc. the next thing we know was it was 7 pm and we were disoriented .. it took a good 10 minutes to get oriented and after a quick shower we went to the city center area..
we had heard about a concept pub run by ABSOLUT called Below Zero and
went hunting for that and we found it. Below Zero has been hand sculpted by two
of the worlds top ice carvers from North America. The Walls , bar, furniture,
sculptures, and even the glasses they serve our vodka cocktails in - all
created from Ice. Below Zero is the first bar in the world to feature a real
gas fireplace and a life size gondola. With the bar being a controlled
temperature of minus 5 degrees they fit us with super warm jackets, gloves and
boots so that we can enjoy this incredible experience while still being cosy
and warm.they charge a 30$ entry with one drink free . for subsequent drinks we
need to pay additional 8 -10$ each.
We clicked a few pictures and had our
drinks and just spent some wonderful time there. We then went to a nearby restaurant for
dinner called Freiyas bistro. The dinner
was excellent as we had ordered some grilled prawns and steamed rice with
chicken kolhapuri. It was late and time to retire and we soon got a cab which
dropped us to the restaurant. We did all clothes washing and stuff and hit the
bed tired but not exhausted and looking for more…..
If u go to any small town in india by bus the bus stand u would see will resemble the rotorua international airport. It was a one storey building not more than 30 metre in width with a board displaying the name of the airport. We looked at each other in utter shock and surprise as we could not digest the fact that it indeed was the airport. Nevertheless we bid bye to the shuttle guy and dragged ourselves and luggage into the lounge . the ticket counter resembled a village cinema theatre like set up with two ordinarily dressed middle aged women asking u for ur check in formalities. She would also sell you tickets in case u needed one.
After checking in the luggage we proceeded to the lounge which ended before it started. It was a tiny lounge which could accommodate not more than 75 people at its maximum. And the café made sure that space was lessened but then it was a must there. We would get our boarding pass from the counter after paying a 5 $ airport development fee!!! Indeed they needed more of it looking at the state of the airport there. We made ourselves comfortable in the lounge couch and then bought some potato chips to munch. We had never come across a chicken flavored chicken chips and we bought it and had it . we loved it and had one more;) . our flight did arrive soon and we embarked it . the flight was a small 60 seater ATR operated by a low cost operator called mt.cook airlines.
The on board air hostess greeted us with a smile which outlined the wrinkles she had on her face , a minimum of 20. Her age must have been not less than 55 by our wildest guess. And to see her serve us water and biscuits did not feel great but we had no option. The flight was a scenic journey ever since we entered the territory of the south island of new Zealand. Now for all those who are confused let me explain. New Zealand comprises of two big islands. South island and north island and each island has different cities. We had complete all the cities in north island except wellington where we did not opt to go and were now proceeding to the south island. The flight was a 4hr journey and we decided to spend time by playing NPATC( Name, place, animal, thing, cinema) a game which we played last when we re probably 10 year old. But we had great fun doing that. Queenstown is a beautiful city with lot of mountainous and hilly terrain with large rivers bisecting it and the birds eye view from the aircraft is truly exhilarating and out of the world!
We were just soaking in all of it when the flight started its descent and it was like a Indiana jones movie with the aircraft cruising between hills at considerable speed. It’s a sight which one must see to believe !! the flight then finally landed and we disembarked. It was windy and chilly although it was sunny and the airport just beautiful like the city itself. We collected all the pamphlets and brochures available for activity there and collected our luggage and proceeded to the pick up . the shuttle took us to the city giving us a nice panaromic view of the city and finally dropped us to our hotel which was scenic suites queenstown . the hotel was beautiful and classy and had only suites on offer . we freshened and then went walking to the city centre and found this amazing restaurant called Bombay palace which promised tasty authentic Indian food.
We ordered for chicken biryani,butter chicken and chicken tikka. The host was friendly coming from a town near delhi and told us a few things about the city. The restaurant was nice and peaceful till a group of gujarati elderly people entered. A group of 4 couples made enough noise to destroy the peaceful ambience of the restaurant and all they ordered were 3 rice and 2 paneer butter masala. They then asked for complimentary onions ,papads, pickles and complained that curry had less spice and rice was half cooked and then asked for little extra gravy and then told the hotel guys not to charge etc. We were having fun looking at their behavior but they got a lot of stares of disgust from some of the non Indians in the restaurant. We were filled upto our throat and went walking back to the restaurant to digest a little whatever we had overeaten. We then slept after a morning full of travel and food etc. the next thing we know was it was 7 pm and we were disoriented .. it took a good 10 minutes to get oriented and after a quick shower we went to the city center area..
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