FERG OFF, YOU LUGER!

DAY 40: Queenstown

After a hearty breakfast of boiled eggs, toasted soldiers and yoghurt we made our way down the hill in to Queenstown.

We had a bit of time to kill before meeting the gang, so we decided to take a walk around the stunning Queenstown Gardens in the warm sunshine. It is a lovely walk with great views of the lake and we saw a few people playing disc golf (basically you have to throw a frisbee into a chain basket, which looked great fun).

We had a funny five minutes trying to capture a picture of Jen doing the splits in mid-air which was hilarious - made us feel about ten again (a running theme on this trip). We then wondered in to town to meet Josh, Lisa, Laura and Craig to go lugeing. But not before another warm cookie and milk.

We took the gondola (which is actually a cable car, not a man in a boat wearing a hat) up the nearly vertical cliff that towers over Queenstown (the breathtaking views are off the scale) to the Luge course.

After grabbing a safety helmet and taking a chair lift even higher to the top of the track we were ready for the first of our six runs.

A luge is basically a tray on wheels with a moulded bum shape for a seat and some handle bars. To go, you pull the bars to the middle, to break you pull them all the way back and to do an emergency stop and fly over the handlebars you let them go completely. Luckily no one did the latter.

After the first run on the scenic course (the slower one) to get used to it we decided we'd go down once more for photos before we began proper racing on the advanced track - although we had to wait for Lisa and Laura first, who took forever. They got overtaken by a seven year old and about 15 other people on a track that takes about a minute to complete.

The advanced track was awesome with opportunities to get some real speed and air time over some humps. It was just like Mario Kart and we all felt about ten again. Including me and Josh who decided that we'd introduce 'Luge Cam' to the fun. We spent about ten minutes trying to attach our video cameras to our helmets to capture a driver's view of the action, a la Formula 1 (look closely at the photo). I love luge.

After the awesomeness of lugeing, we decided to watch a slightly more intense adrenalin activity before we made our descent down to town level. There is a bungee swing off a platform that overhangs the vast drop off the cliff called 'The Edge'. Whilst the drop to the sloping cliff is only about 50 metres ('only'!), the platform and swing must be at least 300 metres above the town. We watched a few people do this and it made me feel sick just watching it. They edge out along a rope that runs parallel to the cliff with their backs to it. Then when they're ready they pull a red tab, drop about 20 metres then swing out away from the cliff. Urrrrgh! Maybe next time.

With all this adrenalin pumping around our bodies and hunger beginning to creep in, it was time. Time to try the legendary and much talked about Fergburger. EVERYONE had told us we had to have one, so we went on a mission. We didn't know which of the 15 or so burgers to order so we ordered a cheeseburger and a 'little lamby' (lamb burger) to see which was best. We were so excited, salivating whilst we waited. When they were ready, they each weighed the same as a bag of sugar and were the size of a small car wheel. And they tasted absolutely incredible. The best burgers I've ever had without doubt, and I've had some good'uns. Jen and I had half each then swapped and I think on balance the little lamby wins it. It is worth coming to New Zealand and Queenstown just for this.

After our stupendous burger, we just had to try this gelato place Josh had recommended (he has a sweet tooth that rivals mine and Jen's). And he didn't let us down. One scoop of apple crumble gelato to die for, with real apple chunks and real crumble, and one scoop of sticky toffee pudding gelato to go with it. My taste buds were going mental. Jen too opted for the apple crumble, but coupled it with passion fruit cheesecake - a good combo.

After seeing that off with pure delight we had to say our goodbyes to Josh and Lisa, although we'll definitely be catching up in the New Year so not really a goodbye. We then headed back to Pauline's for a quiet evening and some much needed uploading-photos-to-Facebook time (well, Jen did while I watched TV). Yet another great day in Kiwi Land.