Arriving at Queenstown

We bid farewell to Te Anau and drove to Queenstown, the adrenaline centre of NZ.

Our first sight of Lake Wakatipu was stunning! The wind was blowing about 70 kph!

We stopped at a few overlooks on our way into town.

There were definitely some "sheep on the bay".

What a busy place. Probably the most traffic we have seen in the South Island. We found a parking garage and dropped the car while we roamed the downtown. Lots of nice shops and restaurants.

We did a walk around the waterfront and a nice park.

A Sequoia

It sure looks like Southland human backpacker mating season in Queenston. They have migrated here from all over the world frequenting the numerous watering holes and green spaces. Looks like this year the females are outnumbering the males by 2 to 1.

Do none of these young people work anymore?

Walking through one of the restaurant/bar areas, we saw one of the most bizarre attractions. $30 to go into a room that is at -5C and have a shot of Absolute Vodka. Crap, I can do that for about $1 on my patio in the winter! Apparently a big hit with the Asians.

Here is another innovative idea for creating outdoor seating space. High intensity propane heaters like the kind they use in an auto body shop for drying paint and fleece blankets to wrap yourself in while dining!

After visiting an iSite to gather information on things to do, we decided to hike up Queenston Hill for an overlook of the town. About a 450 m vertical climb that took about an hour but gave some great views overlooking the lake and the town.

During the walk we saw some interesting poisonous fungi.

Also, a California Quail.

Around 5:00 we checked into our B&B. An absolutely beautiful property on the hill overlooking the lake. Here is a look at our bedroom that has a balcony. Unfortunately the wind was still blowing 70 kph which precluded sitting outside with a glass of wine. maybe tomorrow.....

We headed back into downtown for supper and ended up at Speight's Ale House, a nice pub with enjoyable food.

As I'm writing this, I am looking out on the small bay that is surrounded by the lights of $1M vacation homes.