Te Anua to Queenstown

Took my time and got up about 9 this morning and enjoyed the fact that I had had the 4 bed dorm to myself for the night. I cleared out of the room then went up to the 'house' to get my supplies from the kitchen and have a coffee before setting off. I drove out onto the road and drove for ages so much so that I was away that I was virtually heading back into Invercargil and I actually stopped at a rest area and double checked where I was with Google maps! I was on the right road, and then a little further on picked up Highway 6 towards Queenstown. Road signing is really basic here – it usually only tells you the direction to the next place and not always all the places in that direction so you have to know all the places enroute which is a bit of a pain
Queenstown is a large town not too dissimilar to Bowness and Windermere in the English Lake District. I parked up in town and got on the Google maps to find the exact location of the hostel only to find it said 12metres; I was literally out side it on the other side of the road. The Last Resort Hostel is anything but the last resort. It's a small clapper board building tucked away in between a load of modern buildings. The hostel only has 18 beds so it's not too big and unfriendly. You get free breakfast in morning, free tea and coffee all day and free internet access all for 15 quid – it's a 5* hostel bargin. There's even a free Chocolate bar on the bed along with the towels. I've got two nights here which is nice.
I took a walk around the town and had a look in some of the outdoor shops and left sharpish on seeing the prices! I did go for a Guinness in the Irish bar on the lake front – as recommended (Cheers Rossi) and it was a good pint too and savoured it whist watching the US and Canada battle it out in the Ice Hockey on TV, sorry Canada. In the evening I went down to the Buffalo Club one of the many pubs/bars in the town to sample a beer or two, the hostel has a deal with the pub; you show your room key fob and get 2-4-1 drinks, all night so at $5.60 for 2 beers not a bad price. However I got ID'ed on the way in, that hasn't happened to me for years, turns out it's standard practice no matter how 'young' you look. Made my day anyway The local tipple here is Monteith's but tasted much like the Speight's the other day, damn lager beers, what I'd do for a decent pint of real ale now.