QUEENSTOWN, NZ – January 30, 2020
This isn’t really blog-worthy, but when the Legendary Louise said she was going to do the Gondola ride and the Luge, I didn’t give it a moments thought and said I’d go with her. David was in too … should be fun – getting in touch with our inner child so to speak. I didn’t realise how reckless those other Luge drivers were.
Come to mention it, when the (hungover) whitewater rafters from earlier in the morning said they’d been on the Luge the day before, Jesus, our raft skipper had said that the Luge was the most dangerous thing you could do in all of Queenstown – because there were so many testosterone fueled young men out to win the Luge Grand Prix. I’d forgotten about that.
So, if you’ve paid mega-bucks to do a glamping trip of the Milford Track, I’ve come up with the three things you probably shouldn’t do to risk bodily harm just before you want to do four days walking … whitewater rafting, canyoning and lugeing (is that even a word?). Ok afterwards, but why tempt fate before the trip. There’s probably more to add to that list, bungy jumping maybe.
The afternoon starter with taking the Gondola to get to the top of the mountain.
David joined Louise and me for the afternoon, which as just as well as he was happy to go on the fast track with Louise, I stayed on the slow track! There was a photographer to record this milestone, but we opted for the Louise-selfie.
Once you disembark from the Gondola, you ride the chair lift to the top of the Luge track.
Helmets on and ready to go, serious stuff! We then had to wait in line for half an hour, seems like half the tourists in Queenstown were hitting the Luge this afternoon.
Reminder to drive responsibly!
We all did the “beginners” track, then David and Lou hit the fast track.
It doesn’t look like they were going fast, but they were, I think at one point they both had a bit of a race.
I was just under (or over can’t remember) the 135cm line – and what are they doing letting little kids out on their own!
Me at the end of the slow track … I only did the run twice, the second time some little kid bashed into me and I decided it wasn’t worth getting hurt before we started the Milford Trek tomorrow.
David and Lou waiting at a block up.
Great views of Queenstown from up on the mountain.
David and Lou on the Chair Lift
The Chair Lift doesn’t stop, you have to get up and run to get out of the way, because my legs didn’t reach the ground, it wasn’t easy for me to get out of that seat (lol).
Reckless kid drivers aside, this was a fun afternoon. It’s the second time I’ve done it, so probably wouldn’t bother again, am opting for the Shark Attack activity on the next trip.
Big thanks to Louise and David for the fun afternoon.
Queenstown is a wonderful place. We really enjoyed the gondola and luge. Just walking around was also great and the surrounding countryside is fantastic.
Yes, it’s very vibrant, full of young people. I remember it from 40 years ago, was a sleepy little town back then.
Never grow up!
🙂
You are suck an adrenaline junkie! What is Shark Attack? I googled it and it came up with a boat ride ( well that would be an understatement) . Surely you can’t be serious!!!
I thought you were not going to do dangerous things before a big walk again!
I don’t think the Shark Attack ride is overly dangerous, and will do it AFTER the walk (lol).