More Winter Festival action today. There was a 'waiters race', a milk crate stacking competition and a rather unoriginal but always amusing cow pat throwing competition. The festival has more of a village fete feel than a major international festival - but don't let the Kiwi's know that I said so!

Tom and Dave from my room, and I took a gondola ride up the hill behind Queenstown. This wasn't half as much fun as the five luge runs that were included in our ticket price. The final positions after three races were Dave, then myself with Tom bringing up the rear. The races were interspersed with several overtaking maneuvers, crashes and near misses - and that was just trying to get back onto the chair lift to take us back to the start of the track.

There was a 'Mardi Gras' tonight in town, but I'm getting picked up at some ungodly hour tomorrow morning to be taken down to Milford Sound.

To tomorrow