From Auckland, we flew to Queenstown, a resort town in the heart of the “Southern Alps” on New Zealand’s South Island. It was touristy, to be sure. It would probably be a quiet, sleepy town if it weren’t for tourism. Despite this, it was charming and beautiful. There were many attractive hotels and residences, and the surrounding lake and mountains were spectacularly beautiful.
Queenstown has been called “the Adrenaline Capital of the World,” and it lives up to that claim. Here, you can bungee jump, skydive, hang glide, ride a speeding jetboat up and down a narrow river (with occasional 360 spins for added thrills), ski (in winter), and ride a motorless go-kart on a downhill track (called luge, but not to be confused with the Olympic sport). We did none of the above, although Dave seriously contemplated the jetboat. We decided to save the luge experience for our visit to Rotorua.
Instead, we visited the Queenstown Gardens and Kiwi Park, a wildlife sanctuary for endangered New Zealand birds and reptiles, cruised Milford Sound, and enjoyed a day-long wine tour in the surrounding region. Milford Sound merits its own post here, and highlights from the rest of our visit are below.
The mountaintops were often buried in clouds, especially in the morning. That added to the beauty and mystique.
Queenstown Gardens is located on a peninsula southwest of the downtown area. First, we walked the path around the lakefront. The lead photo was taken from this path, too.
In the center of Queenstown Gardens was one of the most beautiful rose gardens we’ve seen.
There were plenty of beautiful flowers and trees outside the rose garden, too, making this an idyllic, serene city park. Every city should be so fortunate.
Not surprisingly, we took a lot of pictures in Queenstown Gardens. If you would like to see more of the park’s beautiful flowers and scenes, we’ve posted more pictures here.
Kiwi Park is a family-owned and operated Wildlife Sanctuary that sits on what was once a rubbish dump. Now the land is home to over 20 species of native wildlife. Here are a few examples.
Wood Pigeons and Red-crowned Parakeets
New Zealand’s national bird, the Kiwi, is nocturnal. The park had a building with simulated nighttime conditions for viewing the kiwis, but we weren’t allowed to take photos or video. This stuffed specimen from a museum in Dunedin will have to suffice to show you what they look like.
Grapes were not grown in the Otago region until 1981, when an Irishman decided he wanted to start a vineyard. As our tour guide explained, he was laughed out of town and told, “You can’t grow grapes here!” That made him all the more determined to do it. Obviously, he succeeded, and now there are dozens of wineries in the area. We enjoyed visiting three of them and tasting their wines.
A 360-degree view of the countryside from Carrick Winery
We ate lunch at the Stoaker Room in Cromwell, a pleasant medium-sized town about 60 km east of Queenstown. The meats in our lunch were roasted in oak barrels. We can’t say that they tasted any different, but it was unique.
Lunch consisted of five courses (right to left), each paired with a local wine. This spread fed a group of six. Both the wines and the food were served on curved slats from an oak barrel.
A stoaker could be purchased for $2295 NZD ($1370 USD), not including shipping. We passed.
The last winery on our tour was Mt. Rosa.
We enjoyed Queenstown for its natural beauty and fun things to see and do. Our accommodations in an apartment hotel uphill from downtown were very nice. The downtown was filled with high-priced restaurants, bars, stores, and tourists, but it was manageable. We’re glad we went.