Queenstown, NZ

By Stephen M on April 22, 2014

Adventure capital of the world? Well there is definitely no shortage of activities on offer at any time of year!

We have completed the Milford Track and had headed back to Queenstown for some R&R and spend the Easter Break with our girls.
We all fell instantly in love with Queenstown. How could you not? What’s there not to like? The mountain range “The Remarkables” as the main backdrop is inescapable and stunning and that’s without much snow! They can appear glowing in the setting sun or cloaked in a blanket of cloud, but always present watching over the jewel of Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu. This is a glacial lake and is over 80km long and up to 380m deep and along with the mountain ranges, makes a picture perfect town.

Well we made the most of it over the last 5 days and have had an absolute ball! From Zip Lining to plenty of sightseeing, gondolas, dinning at the Skyline and that addictive activity of the Skyline Luge, so much so, that we came back a second day for more! Bike riding around the lake and the pièce de résistance, a ride on the World famous Shotover Jet boat! A truly breath taking ride through dramatic and narrow Canyons with plenty of thrills (and screams from those that shall not be named!)

Did I mention the food? We have been impressed with the quality of food that Queenstown has on offer. Whilst we ran out of time to eat at some of the more popular places (and some of these were closed over the break). We did enjoy a number of breakfasts at Vudoo, great coffee and smoothies as well as great food and we couldn’t visit Queenstown without tasting the famous Queenstown Ferg Burger! It was worth the 40 min wait to get our burgers which got the thumbs up by all!

We have purposely left off a number of restaurants and activities so that we have a reason to come back! Something we all want to do.

(And if they don’t, then I’d be happy to accompany the SMB on Wheels to a Heli-Biking trip. They chopper you up to the top of a mountain range and then you get to go down hill mountain bike riding all the way to the bottom. Looks like some serious fun!)

Well we dogged a bullet with the weather over these past few days with forecast of rain on most days we never saw much more than a drop. Whilst mostly overcast and fresh, it was never an issue, but we are now dreading our next tramp as we don’t believe we can avoid the inevitable cold and wet weather that is typical in this part of the world. Forecast is HEAVY rain! And that’s for the next 3 days! Bummer!

We have sure had fun and the girls have just returned home to Melbourne. Jenny and I are now repacking our packs and getting ready for our next adventure. Next updates won’t be for a number of days especially as the native pigeons don’t like flying in the rain!

Trust everyone has enjoyed their Easter break and look forward to catching up soon!