Chocoholics Anonymous

 
November 14th

The weekend meant some down time in Queenstown – our first overnight stop with proper shops, bars and restaurants. I quickly found my favourite haunt, the fabulous Patagonia chocolate café – a chocaholic’s dream on the banks of Lake Wakatipu. I spent several happy hours there, drinking hot chocolate with chilli and hot chocolate with ginger, while making use of their free internet connection, and left with a selection of the yummiest chocolates to share with my room-mates, Julie and Wendy. There are only three Patagonia outlets – all within 10 miles of Queenstown – but I’m thinking of putting in a bid for the UK franchise. Forget Belgian chocolate – this is the dogs!

Wendy and I also discovered a great spot for lunch. We took the smart new gondola up the mountain to and equally smart new restaurant, with an awesome view of the town, lake and mountains – including the Remarkables, so named because remarkably they run exactly north to south – one of only two mountain ranges in the world to do so. We also had a ringside view of yet another bungy jump station, this time plunging down into trees and rocks. No, I can’t understand why anyone would want to do it either.

Queenstown is a great place to spend a few days – the energetic amongst us went paragliding and white water rafting, while the diehards stayed up all night clubbing. I seemed to spend my time eating – despite all the exercise on this trip, I don’t think I’m in any danger of losing weight.