Trailblazing backpackers break tradition by getting smashed on a mountain instead of a tropical beach

Finding the standard Koh Tao full moon party thing a bit cliche, some innovative backpackers have decided to avoid the standard gap year and park themselves in Queenstown, New Zealand, for the next five months. Allegedly there to enjoy to Kiwi ski season, most agree it’s a hotspot for one reason: to get absolutely destroyed on Tui beers by a cool-looking lake.

Once a Kiwi resort town in central Otago, Queenstown has evolved into a British backpacker mecca. Most credit this to cash-bloated working travelers from 417 visas in Australia touching down in the South Island and immediately blowing their savings on bungee jumps. Like the snow bogans in Niseko, Japan, these frontiersmen haven’t let the cold weather, expensive rent, and low wages put a dampener on their all-week sesh. 

“True, partying is way more expensive here compared to Asia,” said Mancunian waiter Liam Hogsplanny. “But once you factor in altitude sickness, I find I get way more efficiency per drink here compared to sea level.”

Like most British people in Queenstown, Liam works in an après-ski bar on the lakefront. The bar in question largely serves British backpackers, who themselves work in similar bars in town. Nobody is sure how the infinite loop works, but such questions can wait until after the season.

“The thing about Thailand is we’ve been there, done that,” said Hogsplanny. “Food poisoning, getting mugged by taxi drivers – that’s so last year. To get my rocks off, I need to spend all night partying and then all morning trying to snap my knees off on the rails at Cadrona.”

However, there are signs that the seasonaire lifestyle is wearing a bit thin.

“To be fair, it’s a bit chilly out,” said Insta travel queen Suzie van Blunsing. “I never went on ski holidays as a kid, so I never went up the lifts. I thought people came here just to drink?’