Queenstown is everything it’s cracked up to be:

Over the top in every way. If you want to pay big bucks to risk life and limb and push your adrenaline levels to the limit, this is your town. We enjoyed it for a couple of days, but it wasn’t “our kind” of place, really. We took the gondola to the top of the mountain and splurged on the (well advertised) Luge ride, which the kids loved: skimming down the 800 meter asphalt track in little cart type sleds was their kind of fun.

The best part of Queenstown, for us, was connecting with Jeff & Sherrie.

Our parents have been good friends since before I was born and I remember Sherrie as a young mom with fun little kids for me to play with when they would visit Brule in the summers. They live in Ohio and as luck would have it, they’re in New Zealand, in this very town, on the very week we are. Our mothers are very excited.

We couldn’t have enjoyed our time with them more. From the massive half pound “Ferg Burgers” we ate on the strip in Queenstown the first evening to a whole day of adventures on the TSS Earnslaw, a farm tour, and then a late night spent laughing around the fireplace at our campground. The kids milked the “rental grandparents” thing for all they were worth, Sherrie doling out lollies and treats on the boat ride, like the professional grandma she is. We laughed, a lot!

The TSS Earnslaw was their suggestion, and because this is a school holiday week (kids ride for free!) it was a fantastic week for us to make the trip across the beautiful lake on New Zealand’s last coal fired steamboat. The weather couldn’t have been more beautiful, with sun streaking down between the mountains lighting the golden leaves on fire that reflected in the liquid sapphire lake. We picnicked on the deck of the boat, picking bits of coal dust out of our cheese and sausage wishing hard that the older generation could have been with us for a very perfect day.

The kids loved the tour of Walter Peak High Country Farm, but I think I enjoyed it more. We got to hand feed sheep of several varieties, alpaca, and beautiful red deer. That was the highlight for me, standing nose to nose with a majestic buck with more points than I could remember to count and feeling the excitement mounting for the arrival of Uncle Dick in just a week and a half. I took a picture of the big stag for him, and hoped with all my heart that he sees one just as fantastic when we’re on our adventures together.

Sherrie and I had an extra scone and cup of tea for each of our mothers as we warmed up in the sunshine on the porch of the old farmhouse while we told stories of Brule, our dads and the adventures we’ve both had around this beautiful country. We spend a lot of time alone, or with strangers… it was such a delight to spend a day with old friends and chosen family.