I went back the next day and tried a different route; this time starting from Lomond Crescent. It was a bloody sharp climb up to the start of Ben Lomond Forest and the rest was going round and round the hill via Skyline Access Road (yellow solid track) for over an hour to reach the top.

I slumped onto a nice and flat concrete patch when I finally reached, feeling both tired and rewarded by the sweeping views of the Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu. After catching my breath, I realised I was lying on a helipad! It was a windy day but that didn't stop people from having a picnic and zipping down the luge track.

Three days later, I went up again, this time with my friend. I've only just started exploring Queenstown on my own and the gondola was the only place I was confident of going without getting lost. We stood outside her hotel and I showed her where we were going, pointing to the building up the hill. I advised her to take the gondola up and I'll walk as fast as I could up the hill and meet her at the top. I felt bad that she chose to walk up with me instead.