It was very loud outside for much of the night, not unlike Auckland, with plenty of drunk yelling. Fortunately it was the time change so we got stay an extra hour in bed in the morning.
We swung by the supermarket to grab some bananas and sandwiches, then made our way to the Queenstown Cemetery a couple blocks away. As we rounded the corner, we suddenly saw three sheep who were clearly quite lost and upset about it. They ran past us nervously, crossed the road behind us, then disappeared into the city.
Yup... that's kinda how it works.
Three lost little sheep
Making their getaway
The cemetery wasn't especially large. We sat on a bench, ate our breakfast and watched some paragliders swirl down through the air and land in the next field.
At least if they crash, they don't have far to go to be buried.
We walked around admiring the headstones and reading the stories. Some of them were quite sad and it was interesting what people chose to say. It was also such a beautiful location and many of the graves were quite ornate.
IHS is a monogram of Jesus' name, derived from the first three letters of the Greek version of his name: Iota, Eta and Sigma. Sometimes when the letters are superimposed on each other, it looks somewhat like a dollar sign ($).
Here it looks even more a dollar sign, especially the top one.
Here the IHS are simply individual letters.
"Born in Oban, Scotland. Perished in the snow on Mount Gilbert while trying to save his flock"
There were quite a few that had died overseas in WWI.
There were only two Jewish graves, set apart from the rest.
He drowned in this very lake.
"Died result of accident"... ok, that just makes me WAY too curious!
"Aged 10 years 4 months who died from the effects of a fall from his pony"
Hugh - "Who lost his life in a snow slip in sight of his home" and
Walter - "He fought to the end against odds uncounted. He fell with his face to the foe"
Finally... someone who had something written about who they were in life, not just their final last undefining moment!
Alright! Super Gran!!
"Born Gibbston. Mined for gold and coal in this district, also the west coast and Klondyke 1898. Married Sophia Smith of Skippers. Farmed Wakatip district for many years. (He lived a full life)" - Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!
We still had a little bit of time before Regan had to catch his bus to the airport, so we took a short stroll around the gardens near the waterfront (or the Marine Parade). The gardens were on a small peninsula (there's also a good picture of it from the previous day with the steamboat) that was declared a public reserve in 1867. Two oaks were promptly ceremoniously planted by the main gate, followed by many more European species.
Walking along the Marine Parade toward the garden peninsula
Excerpts from the plaque read: William Gilbert Rees (1827-1898) Founder of Queenstown, who with his wife Frances settled near this point in 1861 and built the first buildings by the lake." ... uh... so I hope that isn't Frances!
Every town has a war memorial (or several) but this one (opened in 1922) is unusual in that on one side are all the names of those who died while in service, while the other side carries the names of ALL who served. This was quite controversial, especially from the returned service people who felt 'we have all received our welcome homes, these boys have not'.
One of the original oaks still stands.
The peninsula was divided into many different sections: a native garden, the rose garden, an indoor ice-skating rink, tennis courts, a bowling green, a frisbee golf course, a playground and more.
Not very practical, I have to say
Cones from a monkey puzzle tree
The rose garden, with some lawn bowling in the background
We then walked back to the bus stop. Once Regan was on the 11:30 am bus headed to catch his plane, I limped back to the hostel. My ankle was really bothering me so I decided to just spend the rest of the day off of it.
For all us tourists from countries who drive on the other side of the road
It was too early for me to check into my new room (we had checked out early and my bags were in storage), so I got my laptop and sat in the lounge for a couple hours. The couch was covered with dog hair but at least the kitchen didn't smell like they normally do. The lounge was filled with people still VERY drunk from the previous night. They mostly just slumped in chairs or lay on the couch.
I was eventually able to check in and I moved my bags to the room with four co-ed bunks. I took a lower bunk (since I really try to avoid any kind of heights - ironic for someone living in Boulder, Colorado!) but it proved to be just a bit too low to work in comfortably and I whacked my head several times.
So I decided to go have a bit of lunch in the kitchen, where it was more roomy. As I was making a sandwich, a girl walks up to me and addresses me by name. It was Laura, the German girl I shared a room with in Wellington the very first night I arrived in the country! She had been working odd jobs here and there, but had been in Queenstown for a while. She said it was very easy to get a work visa... if you are under 30 years old. After that, not so much. Damn. She invited me to join a group of people who were headed out to play some frisbee golf, but I told her I need to keep off my ankle.
I went to bed early, or at least attempted to.
