Feb13 – After our spectacular Glow Worm Caves adventure, it was time to leave Lake Te Anau. In less than 3 hours, we were back in Queenstown at the Blue Peaks Hotel where we had a 3 bedroom place with a large upstairs sitting room and full kitchen. Great to have all that space! We walked down to the waterfront for dinner. Queenstown does a great job of making the waterfront a place you want to be. Great pedestrian only areas, lots of cafes, restaurants and boutiques.
Queenstown is on the western shore of Lake Wakatipu, NZ’s 3rd biggest lake and the longest lake at 84km. Roughly Z-shaped, it was carved by glaciers in the last ice age and it exhibits a ‘lake seiche’ which is a standing wave that causes the lake level to rise and fall 20cm (~8 inches) every 27 minutes. It is a result of wind, atmospheric pressure, and the shape of the mountains rising steeply around the water.
Queenstown is a beautiful combination of lake and mountains, with great summer and winter sports. This area is the ‘ski capital’ of NZ and the home of Bungee Jumping.
There are many parks and great places to hike or mountain bike.
The next day we rode the gondola up to the top of Bob’s Mountain, directly behind the town.
The ride was great and the views amazing!
After that was the Luge – we each did 3 trips down the track. What a blast!
Here we see Ryan just disappearing at the bottom right with Robby and Peggy in hot pursuit. That might be my foot in the very top left. I’m pretty sure Ryan was the first down every time!
We spent the rest of the day and evening in the downtown / waterfront area for dinner, drinks and people watching.
The boys went out in the evening while Peggy and I turned in early.
Feb15 was, unfortunately, the day for Robby and Ryan to head home. The airport is just a few minutes from town and soon we were hugging and wishing them an easy flight back home. We had a great time sharing part of our NZ adventure with them and will remember this as one of the highlights of our trip.
New Zealand is such a wonderful place.
With everything going on here right now — you might want to stay there…