Queenstown NZ Day 1

So a while back, I put up my hand to go to the Breast Interest Group (BIG) Conference in April. The catch was that it was held in Queenstown, New Zealand. It's a conference hosted by radiologists (RANZCR) and it ran for four days, so I knew it was going to be full on. Only two mammographers from work were approached to go, but because of costs I was the only one who ended up going T^T
Of course my director went and one mammographer from Wagga wagga, but I'd never met her before and my boss was going on a different day/ busy running workshops. 

So I had to go way outside of my comfort zone and duh duh duhhhh...travel by myself *gulp*. 

I don't know why I have such a big fear of being by myself...but I've always had it since young. I wouldn't go so far to call it separation anxiety, but probably a tame version of it.

I was pretty nervous but I told myself that I was going to an English speaking country and everything would be fine. I took a direct flight from Mel to Queenstown and it only took 3 hours :) 

God was so good to me, He sat a newly married Christian couple from the country next to me. Towards the end of the flight, we started talking and it really eased my mind connecting with them. 

I was still pretty stressed but the moment we landed and I looked out of the window, I saw this huge mountain and I instantly felt God's peace come in. It was crazy because I can only describe it as the "peace that passeth all understanding" Phil 4:7. To those who trust God, He will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 

 😉Apparently Queenstown is one of the world's most beautiful airports and I totally agree. 

I got to stay at Hurley's in Queenstown and when I arrived the staff were super nice. It was like a studio apartment which was so cosy. I was a day early for the conference, so I went to explore the town :D! Queentown is sooooo beautiful! I heard it was scenic, but the photos really don't do it justice. I absolutely love mountain air, and it was real fresh here. 

The town centre was less than 10 mins walk away, so it was super convenient. I had a cookie from Cookietime, a popular franchise in NZ. 

Then after walking around, I bought a sausage roll from a quaint cafe and went up the gondola! 

At the top there were all these awesome and exciting extreme sports. Bungee, Canyon swing and paragliding for the more adventurous and for the less adventurous there was the luge, mountain biking and heaps of hiking tracks. There was also Hakka performances and star gazing at night, but I didn't stay for those. I chose to do the zip line tour and I watched the people on the luge for a little while before it started. 

This awesome artwork is made of jelly beans :)

Totally amazed by the LOTR recreation 😍.
"The Lord of the Beans"

There was an incredible view from the top. This is Lake Wakatipu which is fed by glaciers, so it's super deep and cold. 

I signed up to the Ziptrek Ecotours which was this 6-line zipline through the forest. It was amazing fun because I got to meet travellers and our guides were really friendly. It went for three hours as people had to zip one at a time. 

We basically zip line down the mountain through the trees. 

There were super awesome views and it was just really fun. They also teach you about the ecosystem and stuff, so I enjoyed it. 

We had different 'challenges' at each line. This was my attempt to zip line upside down hahaha 

On another line we had to sing a song at the top of our lungs. There was a German couple and the guy sung 'I came in like a wrecking ball!!!!' which was hilarious 😁😁! I met some Aussies from different parts of Australia which was really nice. 

The sixth and last zip line was the world's steepest tree to tree zip line. This was the view from the bottom. It had a net to catch you just in case hahaha. The others didn't have that mechanism and you can't even see the start from the endpoint. 

I secretly wished for all of the lines to be that steep, but I guess we had to work our way up to the last challenge. It was super fun flying through the forest at that high speed 💓The walk through the forest was really great as well. It was a beautiful hike down the mountain between zip lines five and six. 

When I got to the bottom of the mountain I was feeling kind of sick, so I decided to have a light dinner at a Korean restaurant. :( I had a bit of a cold from Melbourne and being in the freezing cold for three hours was probably not a good idea. But no regrets! 

One my way to the Korean restaurant I stopped by The Remarkables Sweet Shop :D
My brother wanted fudge, so I bought a box. 

It was definitely great fudge, they had sooo many flavours!

After dinner I got picked up to go to this Onsen. It was tucked up in hills, kind of away from the centre of the town. There are only four baths and I booked one all to myself for an hour HAHAHA! 

It was expensive, but it was worth it because it definitely warmed me up. 

The garage door thing opens up to a mountain view. I was really wishing to bathe under a starry night, but it was cloudy that day. It was still amazing though!

It was really so relaxing. Today I played my little heart out and it was great to unwind here. I'd recommend this place 100 percent! 

Everyone in Queenstown was super accommodating, and I really thank God for that. I started out my day super stressed, but He guided me every step of the way :)