Wow! What a place for thrill-seekers, adventurers and everyone in-between. We only had one full day here, but feel we could stay a week and still not do it all! The only snag is that it isn’t cheap… we’ll definitely be leaving tomorrow with fuller hearts but lighter pockets!!

Our first port of call this morning was The Kiwi Park – a wildlife conservation centre that opened in 1986 and whose mission it is to protect and restore native wildlife and their habitats.

We saw the elusive Kiwi again, which was a treat, as well as many other birds and reptiles.

All our tummies were grumbling by this point so we headed into town to the infamous Fergburger, thinking we might be lucky and find a shorter queue than the ones we’d seen on Thursday afternoon. No such luck with the queues but it didn’t take too long to get our order in… then to see if all the hype was worth it.

We can confirm that it lived up to it’s name and then some – the most delicious burgers we’ve ever had, scrummy fries and thick creamy milkshakes. It’s a yes from the Coyles!

Next on the list was the Gondola and then the Luge at Skyline Queenstown – such fun experiences!

The Gondola provides incredible views of Queenstown and the surrounding mountains.

We decided to head straight to the luge as soon as we got to the top, so we kitted ourselves with helmets and clambered on the chairlift!

The queues looked quite long when we arrived but they moved quickly and soon we were zooming down the track!

First timers have a longer queue as you have to have a quick demo on using the carts, and then you’re sent off to try the slower track first. There are two options available after the first corner – left is the faster track, right is the slower track. Kate didn’t listen properly so told everyone to go down the left hand track first. Cue Sylvie bombing it down the fast track without using her breaks!! She nailed it! Elijah got separated and ended up going down the slower track alone, but still loved it and couldn’t wait to go again.

Up we went on the chairlifts again for our second go, brimming with confidence.

This time we all agreed to have a go on the slower route and see if we could stick together a bit more. Martin felt competitive and challenged the kids to race him… this did not end well unfortunately!! Somehow he overtook Elijah on a fast corner, causing Elijah to slow down and then along came Sylvie taking the corner at full speed … bang! Cue one cut finger, a bruised neck, a ripped coat and a sore arm! Thankfully Kate was behind them both, so managed to get them back on the track and heading down the hill.

With bodies bruised and confidence slightly dampened, a bit of encouragement was needed before our third go! (That and a plaster, a drink and a cookie!)

Somehow Kate ended up on the chairlift alone for the last go, but it did mean she could get a quick snap of the others…

With our three luge runs done, we headed around the outside of the restaurant to take in more of the views, before hunting down the Zipline starting point.

The kids had been debating all morning on their chosen activity – something they were going to spend their savings on and their last activity here in NZ. This flip-flopped from Indoor Skydiving (Sylvie’s choice) to Time Tripper (Elijah’s choice), but in the end they chose to do Ziplining together. Martin went with them as they were too young to do the course they wanted to do on their own.

Kate took herself off for a cheeky G&T at the Stratosfare bar, at the top of the Gondola.

The zip line verdict?? Brilliant! Chilly, grinning faces all round.

Phew! What a lot of fun to pack in to our last adventure day in New Zealand. We are back in Auckland for one night next week, but won’t have time to fit in anything other than repacking bags and prepping for the next leg of our trip. And talking of packing bags… that’s what we need to do tonight before our flight tomorrow morning, so it’s goodbye for now from us.