Ben Lomond Track

After a night (and a short phone call home) I was slowly able to calm down. The first impression doesn't say much and after a bad start, things can only get better. I decided to give Queenstown another chance.

And the city also has some hiking trails to offer, of which I chose the most challenging one for today. As you might guess from the title, that was the Ben Lomond Track.

There is the option to skip a part and take the gondola up, but we (I) won't even start that way!
But as it turns out, that was indeed a pretty tricky part of the tour: within a short distance, it went up about 700 meters. My muscles weren't fully recovered after a day off, so I was already panting when I reached the top.

But the next part of the track was pleasant to walk; a moderate incline and good trail condition.

So I reached the actual base of the mountain after about 2 hours. I was actually hoping that the path leads up the mountain next to it, because that somehow looked easier.
Because Ben Lomond is a rugged rock in the landscape and accordingly, the trail was also rough. The incline increased significantly, suddenly you were walking on scree and for the last half hour, I had to climb more than hike. As it turned out later, though, I somehow missed a junction and took a rather unofficial 'trail' over the other side of the mountain. It was definitely shorter, but still not recommended.

But the view from the summit quickly made me forget all the effort. I didn't even have such a stunning 360-degree panorama on Roy's Peak.

Great.

Just amazing.

You only shared the view with a few other hikers, overall I might have met about 20 people on the way.
A real insider tip, so to speak, that's worth it!
The wind on the summit was once again pleasantly fresh, but you could find shelter behind a few rocks.
And then...

...

...a Kea came around the corner.

Oh my God!!!!

I almost went crazy when I spotted the green bird (it was like a fan meeting their star in person) and suddenly I forgot how damn exhausting the ascent was, that I had to go back to the hostel in Queenstown and all the other worries I had with me.

A Kea!!!

:D

I was overwhelmed by so many positive emotions that I can't put it into words.
The two other hikers and I took countless enthusiastic photos and got so close to the Kea that we could have touched it. It calmly let everything happen to it, because the bird was busy itself: apparently, a few hikers (intentionally?) left a few nuts on the ground, which the Kea now stuffed its belly with.

We weren't exactly sure if that was really healthy for it (especially since it's explicitly warned not to feed Keas) and we tried to collect the nuts.
The Kea didn't find that so funny anymore and because we still wanted to keep our fingers, we couldn't steal them all.
But for this food theft, the Kea also brought something with it, by stealing a pack of tissues from one of the hikers and flying away with it. Then you could also see its 5 companions, disappearing behind a rock. So, considering that Keas are rather lazy in flying, they move damn elegantly in the air!

After this wonderful experience, I didn't really want to leave the summit, but my fingers slowly started to freeze. Going down was actually faster (this time I took the right path) and after only 2.5 more hours, I was back in Queenstown - and done.

I didn't expect the hike to be as long and as strenuous, so I took the rest of the day very relaxed again. I grabbed my yoga mat and laid down in the park by the water. This mat is truly a multi-functional talent!

For that, I will probably spend the whole day tomorrow sitting in a bus or boat, but I don't want to reveal too much yet. A little suspense is necessary, right? ;)