Queenstown markets itself as the Adventure Capital of the World and this city of 50,000 is certainly vibrant. It’s location is central to many local activities and the variety of options on offer is truly dizzying: hang gliding, submarine jet skiing, bungy jumping, jet boating, whitewater rafting, boat tours of Lake Wakatipu, fly-in tours to Milford Sound and Aoraki Mt. Cook, skydiving, mountain biking, hiking, golf and fishing. Queenstown is also one of New Zealand’s major ski areas!
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We arrived around 4 PM and found a rush-hour traffic jam. Queenstown has only one main east-west connector and works near our campground had traffic backed up across town. The last 7 km of our day took over an hour.
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As we waited in traffic to reach our campground we were entertained by a stream of hang gliders descending into town.
As we walked the town the next morning we were amused to see jet skis going submarine, leaping to a tail stand and then crashing back into the water. It made my back hurt just watching!
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Jet boats and lake cruisers were coming and going from the busy lakefront street!
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We opted for the more sedate choice of a wine and cheese cruise of Lake Wakatipu. It gave interesting views of this lakeside resort including this one with the TSS Earnslaw coming into port. This lovely old ship has been plying these waters since 1910.
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This view shows a hillside above Queenstown with bands of trees showing decline. A broad band of green trees is topped by a narrow band of browning trees, with grey trees at the top. I have not been able to find an explanation of these seemingly dying and dead trees.
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This lake has three basins, a central east-west basin 20 km in length with Queenstown at it northeast corner. A western basin runs 30 km to the north from the point ahead, with the town of Glenorchy at its top end. An eastern basin extends 30 km south from Queenstown to Kingston at the south end of the lake.
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Our cruise sailed the main basin and visited Walter Peak Farm at Beach Bay on the southwest side of the main basin. The ship stopped here to deliver freight and exchange passengers. Intrepid cyclists disembarked here as it’s the trailhead of a chain of foot trails and campgrounds.
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Returning to Queenstown we had impressive views of The Remarkables along the eastern shore of the south basin. This mountain range houses Queenstown’s main ski areas.
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We followed the Earnslaw back into port.
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Safely back on dry ground, Lynne took in this very large replica of a kiwi (real kiwis reach up to 4 kg). Kiwis forage the forest floor with their long beaks, where their nostrils are located very near the tip, and their strong sense of smell is important in finding food. While one might think that the long beak would be a good defensive weapon, it is a very sensitive part of their bodies and cannot be used in fighting. Their large, powerful claws are their only defensive weapons.
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We spent our afternoon strolling around the main touristic part of town, assisted some Aussie backpackers in finding a good grocery store, and returned to the campground to catch up on some notes.
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This poster from our compground told us what New Zealanders expected from us as tourists. It’s a pretty nice set of principles, and very consistent with our impressions of what New Zealanders expected of themselves.
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We also met some wildlife. Mallards are common in New Zealand.
While our drive from Milford to Queenstown was only our 8th day on the road out of 34, we had already driven more than a third of the 5,000 km we would put on the Jucy van. We spent a second day in Queenstown to catch up on housekeeping. on the morning of the 17th we headed for Dunedin.