Bev and Larry New Zealand 2012: December 25, 2012 Christmas Day in Queenstown

Christmas day was beautiful and fairly warm (upper 80’s) in Queenstown. After breakfast we walked to the Skyline Gondola station to board the gondola to the top of Bob’s peak. Here there were spectacular views of Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu, and the surrounding mountains boarding the lake. There were paragliders floating in the air, catching the updrafts coming from the lake and valley floor. These were drifting past the observation deck and landing in a field in Queenstown.

As we left the gondola station and started to walk in Queenstown, we thought maybe we could attend the 11:00 am traditional Christmas Day service at St. Peters. To our surprise we were able to obtain a seat when we got there 5 minutes before the service was to start. Evidently the 9:30 am service was very packed and they were running late for the 11:00 am service. This was more traditional and the priest had traditional vestments (no Santa hat today). Again, the congregation was very international and several children were selected from the congregation to participate.

After the service, we returned to the hotel to dress up a little more for our 2:30 pm Christmas dinner seating at Tatler Restaurant. Tatler had been our source of free internet since arriving in Queenstown, because they do not change their login password. Most other places have a subscription service with a 30 min/50 mB limit and the password is acquired by making a purchase. Christmas dinner (see menu) consisted by a Chicken and Wild Mushroom Terrine with artichokes in phyllo pastry cup; roasted turkey with dressing, roasted potatoes, and asparagus; and a dessert of Christmas pudding with red and purple currant garnish. Everything was excellent and very delicious.

After such a large Christmas dinner, we took a walk along the lake to the Queenstown gardens located on a peninsular in the lake. The day was just gorgeous, but with a strong breeze blowing across the lake that created white caps on the lake. The Queenstown gardens have extensive rose and peony gardens with the roses in full bloom. Again, the roses were absolutely gorgeous with large clumps of very large flowers (some 6-8” in diameter). The peonies were past there blooming period. The grounds also containing a bowling club with large bowling greens.

We received pictures from Louis of their Christmas Even dinner preparations of Cornish Hens, Mashed Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts, and Christmas cookies. Roxanna’s parents are leaving on Christmas morning to return home and they were having their Christmas dinner today. The pictures indicated they were having a very picturesque and delicious dinner.