Today we decided that we needed to save some money so our activity was free of charge. We opted for a hike of moderate difficulty on the Fernhill loop trail. It started with a punishing climb up an extremely steep slope where we had to scramble over large boulders and cling onto trees to stop from falling back down the bank! I immediately wondered whether we had bitten off more than we could chew and was starting to wonder whether we were going to last the course. Eventually the terrain became slightly more bearable but still it continued upwards through the forest, occasionally offering us a view of the lake or Queenstown below.

About 45 minutes later we reached the start of the trail we were actually supposed to be doing and realised that we had been half way through a different hike prior to that point-doh!

This section of the walk wasn't much easier either, passing through forest, crossing streams and steadily climbing. Eventually, about 2 hours later we reached alpine meadow and this afforded us fantastic views of QT and the surrounding mountains. It was worth the climb for the views but I haven't yet decided whether it was worth the blisters I am still suffering with-damn North Face hiking boots!

The descent was a welcome break initially, passing through shaded forest where we found a variety of toad stools in numerous different colours. However, our relief was short lived when we realised that we had some more very steep terrain to conquer. We pressed on though and I bravely fought through my blister pain! Eventually we reached the bottom after about 4 hours with just about everything aching. Then we went to the pub, hurray!