Queenstown - The Other Adult Playground

At night

At sunset

A pretty awesome place to bungy over Q'town

The madness inside FergBurger

The madness outside Ferg... and finally, a proper burger!

In so far as adult playgrounds are concerned, I think there are two.  Vegas being the obvious one (though my least favorite – except for the food!), and Queenstown being the other.  This is a place for people who like to do outdoor activities.  You want to ski?  They’ve got it.  You want to bungee jump?  They’ve got it and it’s home to the original bungy jump.  Jump over water, ravine, or with all of Queenstown being your backdrop.  You want to hike?  Plenty of that here.  You want to kayak?  Yep.  Paraglide?  Yup.  Sky dive?  Uh huh.  Eat?  Yes!  (It’s a sport in my opinion as well as a way of life). Anything and everything when it comes to outdoor activities, it’s here. There’s something for everyone and to top it off, there’s a town full of great restaurants and bars.  We’re not talking about a bunch of hole in the walls (though there’s a few of those), but these are some classy places with great drinks, excellent décor, lots of fireplaces and leather couches, good music, good themes, good times.  There’s also a few ice bars where you get to dress in a big parka and gloves, walk into a huge freezer full of ice sculptures and ice luges, drink some cocktails out of cups made of ice and then make sure your drink doesn’t slide off the bar when you set it down.  Cool idea to go to though it costs $20+ to get in.  Best thing, just go on a pub crawl where you pay $25 and that includes the crawl with a shot at each bar plus admission and a free cocktail at the ice bar.  A much better deal in my opinion! 

One thing Queenstown is, is a party town though not obnoxiously one (don’t worry, there are a few places where it is obnoxiously a backpacker bar and likely you’ll find some nudity at them too!).  It is full of classy places too that make some real cocktails (not made out of that sugary, candy colored crap), have all sorts of wine bars, and breweries.  The streets make it feel like it’s an upscale village like Aspen, yet the people that live and work there are from all over the world and are super down to earth. 

There is always the one place in town that you MUST eat at and that place is FergBurger.  When I first heard of it, I was somewhere in the world already knowing that I would be heading to New Zealand.  So some traveler mentions that when I get there, I have to try the FergBurger even if the thing costs $12.  Now, with me coming out of LA, paying $12 for a burger is not a big deal but it is going to have to be good and it’s going to have to have a lot of interesting ingredients.  The fries are going to have to be excellent.  The ambience I couldn’t give a shit about as long as the burger is good.  So, I go to this place that is supposedly going to rock my world and as I approach it, I realize that the mob of people on the sidewalk is actually the line to get in as well as people waiting for their order to come up.  ‘Whoa! This is a bit crazy!’ But I get myself into line, read the menu and realize, this place just might be able to back up its reputation.  I place my order, manage to find a tiny bit of table space with one chair in a corner and wait…  After about 10-15 minutes, my order is up and already I am impressed.  The bar is a tad high for me when it comes to burgers and already my mouth is watering at the sight of it and the fries with their special garlic aioli.  I take a bite, and yes!  It is just as everyone says it is and more!  I’m a happy camper.  The one place in all of New Zealand that serves a decent burger – American-style (and they even have a Mexican burger!) but with New Zealand beef.  Most other places that served burgers just season them very differently than Americans do, but here, I was very happy.  Freshly made buns, all fresh ingredients – yum!!  The fries, excellent and massive.   One order is good for two people.  Two other things that are great about FergBurger, they have good brews available AND they have an amazing bakery next door – FergBakery!!  They sell all sorts of baked goods including bagels, amazing breads, croissants, and their amazing meat pies.  The best one I had – the pork belly with caramelized apples and onions.  Try it, it will convert you to become a meat pie lover.  I could eat two of those in one sitting!  FergANYTHING is a great experience!  GO!!  And go BIG!

Random Recommendations: 

- Fergberger - on Shotover St.: Fergburger

- Nomads Hostel Queenstown - I really loved this hostel.  It's brand new, has great common areas that include large couches and fireplace, pool table, large eating area and kitchen, good food deals, a movie screening room, clean rooms with balconies, free popcorn, etc.  Nomads Queenstown

- All other bars and such, just get on foot and start exploring all the little nooks and crannies!