Queenstown, New Zealand

Fri 27th Dec

Our first morning in Queenstown greeted us with spectacular weather; brilliant sunshine, clear skies and no wind.

Queenstown is located on the edge of Lake Wakatipu and this is just one of a few lakes that sits in a valley carved out during previous ice age activity and by migration of the Dart glacier. Thus the scenery is, quite simply, breathtaking.

Our apartment is situated a few minutes drive out of Queenstown but with direct frontage on the edge of Lake Wakatipu.

We headed out for our morning walk and took the 40 min walking trail alongside the lake into Queenstown. The return trip was punctuated with a coffee stop at the Waterfront ‘Pier 19’ Cafe and restaurant. This allowed us to take in the spectacular scenery and do some people watching; a favourite past time of mine!

Our journey out to Arrowtown started at 11.30 am and we wandered through the pretty streets, historic Chinese Village and the post Christmas markets.

Mark detoured via Coronet Peak on the way home and this provided further spectacular views out over the Valley.

Our afternoon plan involved heading into Queenstown to ride the Gondola and Luge. This was a few hours of good fun but it was thirsty work. This then necessitated a trip to Pog Mahone’s Irish pub for some hydration and Ashes updates. We had a great spot near the log fire and wide screen TV and by the door with views out to Queenstown Bay. In fact, it was such a great spot that we ended up staying there for an early dinner. We were all rather tired and it was much easier to just sit there and keep on keeping on.