Queenstown (aka QT)

Known as NZ's 'adventure capital', QT lives up to its name, but was also a bit anticlimactic. Sure you can heli-ski, bungee, jet boat, sky dive, etc... if you have $200 per half day and the patience to put up with hoards of tourists.
Lauren and I landed on Monday afternoon to make our way to our new home (aka Hippo Lodge) for the next two nights. Besides having 3 bathrooms to ourselves, Hippo was very unimpressive. There we began what was to become our typical wake-sleep schedule: asleep by 8:30-9pm and up and rearing by 5am. By far the best parts of QT were two-fold: (i) Vudu Cafe - amazing brown bread, intimate atmosphere, great people watching and a fireplace, and (ii) our encounter with a star from Lord of the Rings. Orlando Bloom? Viggo Mortensen? No, it was Zoro, one of the black horses on whom the 'Black Riders' rode. We spent an afternoon riding around the foothills on horseback and one of our horses was none other than Zoro!