We’re sure (to the naked eye), that this trip could appear to be a spontaneous getaway to celebrate a couple of birthdays and Mothers Day in the same week. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ducking, diving, weaving and planning like crazy is how we could afford to do an overnight trip from Dunedin to Queenstown with meals and activities. Fairly sure we planned 99% of it months ago. We worked out the cost of petrol, parking and the effort involved in a 4 hour drive each way and decided to take the Intercity coach instead. We booked a while out and only paid for 2 people instead of 3 as we snagged a $1 fare in each direction for 1 ticket. Although the $ cost comparison of drive vs. coach would have been a wash, it was great that James didn’t have to do the two long drives and he got to enjoy kicking back on the coach, chatting and enjoying the scenery with me and Joan. We ubered downtown at 7.45 am on the Friday and before we knew it the coach was on station and we piled in for the 4 hours and 20 very scenic minutes across to stunning Queenstown.

We had been haunting the weather channel all week and worried about either rain then clouds for our two days or clouds then rain - either combo would have put a dampener on the outing. But the gods were smiling and we had fine and sunny weather both days. When we arrived we dropped our bags off and strolled around town, never far from glorious Lake Whakatipu. After some lakefront nibbles and thermos coffee for a light lunch we headed over to the Steamer Wharf and our first ‘bookme’ deal for the weekend. - the Minus 5 Icebar. James and I visited a couple of years ago and absolutely loved this place with its stunning ice sculptures, fur rugs and fab cocktails served in glasses of ice - so wanted to share the experience with Joan. Once more, brilliant and we chill-axed with fireball cocktails and lots of photo taking.

Our apartment was ready by the time we finished at the ice bar and the weather seemed to have warmed up by 10 degrees (relative to our chilled little selves) when we emerged into the sunshine. We changed and unpacked and ventured onto Queenstown Mall to the Ballarat Trading Company restaurant - the deal this time? Dinner and a glass of wine for $22 per head - instead of around $40 per head based on the menu price. Tres affordable! Pas trop cher! Not French at all of course, but the massive burgers and local red wine were superb. We wouldn’t normally say it was too big a serving... but it actually was. We left some chips behind - a travesty when you’ve been brought up to be an empty-plater with the starving children in Africa being a constant reproach. Incredible food - and really... smoked cheese on a burger - lush indeed.

Our apartment complex had a sneaky pathway that meant at any point we were just a 5 minute walk from town to home and we we had an early-ish night once dinner had settled. There was no snow on the mountains at that point, but definitely an unusual chill in the air which we all enjoyed. On Saturday morning James put together a home cooked breakfast of bacon, free range eggs, toast and coffee (all imported from Dunedin) and that saved around $30 each. There is insanity in this country and it comes in the form of $25 cooked breakfasts and $5 coffees.

Speaking of weird stuff kiwis do, we have spent a long while in Europe and points north where standard checkout is 12 noon. Here in NZ, 10 am still seems to be considered normal. We charmed some birds from then trees and managed to beg a late(!) check out of 11 am then embarked on our morning activity - the Saturday artisans market on the Steamer Wharf. As we well remembered, it was great - we even invested in some merino fingerless gloves and a clever head band/neck warmer/almost balaclava - made just down the road in Winton (even went through there on the coach).

The market kept us amused for quite a while (and the sun was shining... let’s not forget the input the weather can have). We continued on and enjoyed a coffee at one of the lakefront restaurants and people watched for about an hour. When the table next door ordered a bottle of champagne and a massive seafood platter we took ourselves off, safe in the knowledge we had some excellent seafood on the late afternoon agenda. First though we took a walk around Queenstown’s botanic gardens with lake and mountain views aplenty.

Eventually it was time for our late lunch and our last ‘bookme’ for the trip. The best fish & chips in Queenstown (if not in the entire south island) come from Erik’s F&C - we can’t justify $24 for a meal for two - but we can definitely ‘bookme’ it at $12 - so we picked up our two pre-booked orders and sat in the sun with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and watched world go by. There were a great many seagulls lurking and more than one envious looking foreign tourist. Around 4 pm we packed up, retrieved our bags from storage and meandered to the centre of town for the relaxing coach ride home.

Stunning scenery abounded as the sun sank behind the mountains and the crystal blue waters of the various gorges and dams faded as darkness descended. We made it back to Dunedin around 8.30 pm and it felt like we’d been gone for days - must have been all that fresh mountain air and the change of scenery.