Smashed avocado and a flat white

So we met a lovely Swedish girl one night who told us that she worked at a cafe that does great brunches. Obviously we wanted to check it out, and I was pretty glad we did! I had the smashed Avo on seeded brad with poached eggs, feta, tomato and balsamic vinegar drizzle. It was super fresh and super tasty. A flat white on the side complimented it well, and they even threw in a New Zealand classic 'Jaffa' chocolate on the side.

Where: The Exchange cafe 

Price: ££

Rating: 7/10

Cocktail o'clock...

I love a good cocktail on an evening, and really wanted to try something different. So I went for The Amethyst (on the right) which mixed pomegranate seeds with fresh lime, tequila, Cointreau and fresh chillis for a bit of extra spice. It was quite refreshing and spicy at the same time. There was a cute little seating area outside area overlooking the lake, so we sat out and enjoyed the view too!

Where: Little Blackwood Bar, Queenstown

Price: £££

Rating: 7/10

The BIG CLASSIC FERG!

So Ferg burger is THE PLACE to get a burger when in Queenstown. It has a national reputation for having the best burgers in town. The wait to order is never shorter than 20 minutes and the queue is always out of the door and down the main road, even late at night! Ferg are open from 7am-5am, which means a burger after a night out is also a MUST! I have had 3 burgers so far, and plan to have a few more before I leave. I didn't think I'd give in to the hype... but I most certainly did! 

I had the classic Ferg burger which consisted of a huge juicy beef patty, lettuce, tomato relish and aioli, in a soft bun.

The others I've tried: 

Bun laden - falafel 

Spring chicken - with lots of aioli

Where: Ferg Burger, Queenstown 

Price: £

Rating: 9/10

Spot the yoga pose

The view at the summit of the 'Ben Lomond hike' in Queenstown was stunning. 360 views from 1748m up really takes your breath away. It took us 5 hours to hike up and down, but it was a super steep and rocky climb to the peak. We were also greeted by a Kea at the top, which is a cheeky parrot-Iike bird that likes to steal your food. We then decided to treat ourselves to a 'Ferg burger' at the end... what an absolute treat!

Big kid for the day!

So I thought I was such an adrenaline junkie and could cope with heights and crazy falls, etc. But I was super nervous to do THE BIGGEST SWING IN THE WORLD today! It was a 300m drop into a canyon filled with rocks, so it's kind of understandable. The guys at the top were teasing us, saying that our straps were loose and kept pretending to push us off the edge early. Then they counted down from 5, but dropped us at 2... the cheeky buggers! The butterflies in my stomach went crazy! It was terrifying, but equally amazing! I would definitely recommend if you're not prone to heart attacks that is...

Milford Fiordlands... NOT sounds!

It was a long old drive to Milford, but the scenery was beautiful when we got there. We boarded the 'Jucy boat' for a 90 minute pleasant cruise through the Fiordlands (valleys filled with salt water????? Topped wth water from the glacier). The largest waterfall was 3 times the size of Niagara Falls in North America, and we cruised right up to it and got drenched! It was a dry, sunny day which made it really pretty, however I've also heard from travellers that it is even more stunning when it rains, because hundreds of waterfalls are created from the tops of the mountains.

I'll never get sick of salmon and eggs!

So I decided to have scrambled eggs and smoked salmon instead this time, so it's slightly different right?! The eggs were mixed with cream so it was even tastier. The Hollandaise sauce was nice and thick too. I also got a free coffee because I stayed at Nomads, which is always a bonus when you're travelling! 

Where: Joe's garage 

Price: £

Rating: 6/10.

Jump for your life!

So jumping out of a plane was a cocktail of weirdness, excitement and nervousness. The whole experience felt pretty surreal. We were taken to 12,000ft in a tiny aircraft, packed in like sardines. You had to be strapped to your 'tandem master' on the way up and also had your personal camera man in front of you, creating a video the whole way through! My ears popped when we got about half way, then you could start to feel the altitude sickness nearer to the top. I think my mind switched off a little to the fact that I was about to jump, because it felt way shorter than a 45 seconds free fall. I felt butterflies for about 2 seconds, then the rest was just wind in my face and mouth... it was not pretty! My favourite part was when the parachute ejected and I got to control the cords overlooking beautiful Queenstown.

NICE cream

So this is the place to have an ice cream when you're in Queenstown. There were about 20 unique flavours, which made it super hard to choose only two for myself! I went for the boysenberry, apple and raspberry frozen yoghurt & the mascarpone strawberry cheesecake ice cream. The texture was silky smooth and just the right temperature for sensitive teeth... as silly as that sounds. You can then go out and eat it in front of a stunning mountain view over lake Wakatipu.

Where: Patagonia, Queenstown 

Price: ££ 

Rating: 8/10