Queenstown

Following the day on the river we high-tailed it down the highway headed for Queenstown where our friends Nik and GB (short for ginger beer) live. In addition to a key to their home, they had graciously offered the use for their SUV for the duration of our trip, and we were eager to give Grady the old heave-ho.

We "checked in" to our room and had the bell hop carry our things up. A view from our room:

We had a great meal ala GB, drank some wine, caught up with friends and hit the sack.

The next morning Nik and GB had worked a deal for one of the local flight seeing companies to give a FREE ride. Out of QT, over the mountains, over the coast and back again. As you can see, the weather sucked.

For you Lord of the Rings fans, these are the Misty Mountains

I take that back; it wasn't free. It cost a case of beer.

GB works for a helicopter company that supports hauling Australian Rock (Spiny) lobsters. Once in a while they toss one of the little ones over as a good will gesture. This time it was GB's turn to be on the receiving end.

This, of course, brought on the inevitable ethical question regarding the proper way to dispatch and cook a lobster. I'm of the camp that you throw the bastard kicking and screaming into a rapidly boiling kettle of water; preferable seawater. I researched this a little and there is an NPR school of thought (endorsed by girls and metrosexuals) that you should put them alive into the freezer. That way they gently go to sleep dreaming of ponies and ice cream...then you throw their ass into a scalding kettle of boiling water (preferably seawater).

In fact, if you google cooking lobsters you will find that most adhere to my procedure, however, apparently some cooking game show (Master Chef, I think it's called) got into a bunch of "hot water" because their contestant tossed one into a pot of (you guessed it) boiling water! I think the show had to promise to sponsor the next gay pride parade to get out of that one. In the end it was a moot point, as the lobster had died waiting for us to make up our minds.

On Saturday we went for a hike around Moke Lake, just outside of QT.



And what goes perfectly after a nice hike? You're absolutely right! Goofy Golf! Right up there with Friday Harbor drunk bowling!

Cynthia doing her Tiger Woods impersonation

I'm probably showing my hillbilly-ness here, but after golf we went to their local wine shop for a tasting. They have the coolest setup. They have these machines that dispense tastings. You get a card with a smart chip in it from the wine monger and find the wine that you would like to try (they had 80 available). You stick the card in and select the tasting size (drip, dribble, or slurp) and the machine automatically dispenses the microscopic amount, for the macroscopic price! I heard that they came up with the idea while developing the electron microscope. If you only take the drip size tasting (which I did) then by my calculations they make about $350 from a $17 bottle of wine.

At the end of the day, Cynthia hurries back to the place she thinks of most while awake.



Oh! I almost forgot! GB ran over a hedgehog on the way back from dinner at the Cardrona Hotel Sunday night! Not a possum, mind you, (as anyone can do that) but a hedgehog!