Queenstown

Queenstown

The sun really was shining in the morning so we set off for Queenstown.  We had to go back to Lumsden before turning north onto Highway 6, which runs all the way down the west coast of the island from Picton to Bluff.  Again we were greeted with some spectacular views, particularly for the last 40km when the road runs between mountains and Lake Wakatipu.

This is the longest lake in NZ, being 80km long and it is surrounded by mountains, including the Remarkables range, which really are.  In the cinema it’s been used as Loch Ness as well as scenes for Lord of the Rings; in fact, in this area you’ll find bits of Lothlorien, Isengard, Ithilien, Anduin and several other Tolkein places.

Queenstown lies in a bay about half way up Wakatipu.  The site we were aiming for is right in the centre of town, which was incredibly busy by NZ standards.  We later found out that Queenstown always fills up at the start of the Chinese New Year; and we thought they’d all come out to welcome us!

Walking around the town we could have been in any modern holiday resort – apart from the large body of water and snow-capped mountains that are always close by.  By the harbour there was a street market, complete with fire-eater/juggler; it was just like Covent Garden!

Queenstown Gardens lies in a piece of land that juts out into the lake opposite the harbour.  We took the 2km walk along the lakeside, from where we watched the TSS Earnslaw, a vintage steamship, returning to the harbour.  In the mouth of the bay, there are four telegraph poles stretching about ¾ of the way across to power some kind of marker; maybe they don’t get enough solar power in winter.

Once we’d got all the way round we cut back into the middle to see the rose gardens, watched some old men polishing their balls at the bowling green and came across some street theatre, Cinderella by the Remarkables Players.

Back in town we came across an interesting initiative from NZ’s wine makers.  It was an ancient VW campervan that had been converted for wine tasting, red on one side, white on the other.  You stick your card in the slot, put your glass under a spout, press the button and then sit in the sunshine.

The following morning, we were going to take the scenic drive along the lakeside to Glenorchy, but it was persisting down with rain.  In the end, we decided to have a day of rest instead; apart from a quick trip to the convenience store for a bag of crisps to go with our afternoon alcohol, we sat in the campsite and people watched.