New Zealand - Queenstown

Our brief second stay of this trip in Singapore was followed by a brief second stay in Australia, this time to the Gold Coast where Lorraine, Deborah’s friend of 30 years, lives. Lorraine's daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter also live with her now. We hadn’t seen Lorraine since our first trip to Australia in 2008 so it was great to catch up with her. We also were able to visit with Lorraine’s ex-husband’s son and his family, whom we also haven’t seen since 2008. 

As we posted about a few months ago, Deborah had to have a tooth pulled due to a failed root canal last September when we were in Australia. Unfortunately, on this visit she had to have yet another tooth pulled. It was a front tooth this time – dead and the surrounding area badly infected – the long-delayed result of a biking accident when she was 10 years old. Fortunately we were able to find a dentist the day we arrived and by the next day she had left another body part down under and was wearing a custom-made partial plate so that she didn’t have to entirely live up to her West Virginia hillbilly roots.


Passing through the Gold Coast also helped break up the long trip to New Zealand into manageable chunks. From Gold Coast we had only a 3 plus hour flight to Queenstown, New Zealand. Queenstown has a spectacular setting on the shores of Lake Wakatipu with The Remarkables mountain range rising in the background. In winter there is skiing; in summer there is bungee jumping, jet boat riding, zip lining, and other adrenaline-junkie pursuits, which frankly don’t interest us much. But we were happy to enjoy the views and wander around town, along the lakeshore, and in the botanical garden. For just a half day stay, that was enough.

Queenstown, New Zealand, on the shores of Lake Wakatipu


Deborah and Lorraine in Gold Coast, Australia


Deborah with Lorraine's granddaughter Alexa


Queenstown



Queenstown


Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown


Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown


Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown





Queenstown
(photo by Deborah)

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