Queenstown
Queenstown is New Zealand’s premier commercialized resort town, superbly set by deep-blue Lake Wakatipu and hemmed in by craggy mountains. Kiwis and visitors complain that the town is too loud, crowded, expensive, big for its boots and the victim of devil-may-care development. There’s some truth in this, with the faint screams of adrenaline activity junkies piercing the tranquillity and the base thump of music and shrill whistle of the TSS Earnslaw providing the backdrop, but somehow Queenstown retains the air of a small-town idyll. Furthermore, it offers a great selection of restaurants, some of the flashiest accommodation in the country, and nightlife that will either suck you in or drive you away.
Best taken in small doses, Queenstown is well worth using either as a base from which to plan lengthy forays into the surrounding countryside, or as a venue for sampling all manner of adventure activities. The most prominent of these is undoubtedly bungy jumping at three of the world’s most gloriously scenic bungy sites, visited either in isolation or as part of a package, perhaps including whitewater rafting and jetboating on the Shotover River.
Visitors after a more sedate time plump for easy walks around lakeshore gardens and to hillside viewpoints; lake cruises on the elegant TSS Earnslaw, the last of the lake steamers; a gondola ride to Bob’s Peak, which commands magnificent vistas from a cable car over Queenstown and the Remarkables range; and wine tours around some of the world’s most southerly vineyards. Milford Sound can be visited from Queenstown.
Frantic summers are nothing in comparison to winter, when Kiwi and international skiers descend on Coronet Peak and the Remarkables, two fine ski-fields within half an hour of Queenstown, particularly during the annual Queenstown Winter Festival, late June and early July.
Bungy jumping
Even visitors who had no intention of parting with a large wad of cash to dangle on the end of a thick strand of latex find themselves bungy jumping in Queenstown. A combination of peer pressure, magnificent scenery and zealous promotion gets to most people and, let’s face it, historic bridges high above remote rivers beat a crane over a supermarket car park any day. The sport’s commercial originator AJ Hackett, at the corner of Camp and Shotover streets (t 0800 286 495, w bungy.co.nz), runs all three Queenstown-area bungy jumps: the original 43m Kawarau; the 47m Ledge and the mighty Nevis. There are several bungy and swing combos. If you want a record of your fifteen minutes of hair-raising fame you can pay to download photos or a film from the company’s website.
Nevis Highwire (134m)
Some say that with bungy jumping it is only the first metre that counts, but size does matter and the Nevis is New Zealand’s highest, with eight seconds of freefall. Jumpers launch from a partly glass-bottomed gondola strung way out over the Nevis River, a tributary of the Kawarau 32km east of Queenstown. Access is by 4WD through private property so spectators have to fork out $50, though this does give you a ride out to the launch gondola and a wonderful view. Free T-shirt but jump photos are extra.
Mountain biking
Queenstown is fast becoming a major cycling destination. there have always been great rides here, but with the opening up of gondola access to downhilling in the Queenstown Bike park, the sterling track-building efforts of the Queenstown Mountain Bike Club (queenstownmtb.co.nz), and the imminent completion of the Queenstown trail, part of the new Zealand Cycle trail (wakatiputrails.co.nz) everything is coming together. Whether you’re after a gentle lakeside ride, steep downhill or a multi-night adventure, there’s something for you, and the whole Queenstown region is heli-biking heaven. All the bike shops rent suitable machines and are staffed by keen riders who will point to the best Queenstown has to offer. There’s lots more great information at ridequeenstown.co.nz.
Watersports in and around Queenstown
Some of the most thrilling activities around Queenstown take place on or in the water – sometimes a bit of both. You’ll almost certainly get splashed during 360-degree spins when jetboating and punching through big waves whitewater rafting. You’re almost always in the water when river surfing, sledging and canyoning, and only family rafting gives you much chance of a dry run.
Jetboating
There are strong arguments for spending your jetboating dollar on better-value wilderness trips elsewhere – the wilkin River Jet, waiatoto River safaris and trips down the wairaurahiri River spring to mind – but Queenstown does offer the scintillating shotover Jet and the thrilling, scenic and historic skippers Canyon Jet.
Shotover Jet Corner of Camp and shotover sts 0800 746 868, shotoverjet.com. Slick, touristy and pricey but the thrills come thick and fast. Courtesy buses take you out to arthur’s point, 5km north of Queenstown, where super-powerful jetboats thrust downstream along the shotover Canyon. Perilously close shaves with rocks and canyon walls plus several 360-degree turns and periodic dousings guarantee that a twenty-minute trip is enough for most.
Skippers Canyon Jet 0800 226 966, skippers canyonjet.com.Agreat way to combine exploring the skippers road with jetboating among the ancient gold workings of the upper Shotover River. There are various combos, perhaps the most logical being with a rafting trip down the shotover river, which doesn’t save you much money but helps pack in the thrills.
Whitewater rafting
Queenstown’s adventure stalwart is whitewater rafting, which takes place locally on the Kawerau River and the Shotover River, and infrequently in the remote Landsborough River. Although there appear to be three whitewater rafting companies in town, each with assorted packages and combo deals, all rafts are in fact operated by Queenstown Rafting, 35 shotover st (0800 723 8464, rafting.co.nz).
Kawarau River (Grade II–III; 4hr with around 1hr on the water). With its large volume, this is the more reliable of the two rivers. The 7km “Dog Leg” section negotiates four rapids (exciting but not truly frightening), ending with the potentially nasty Chinese Dog Leg, said to be the longest commercially rafted rapid in New Zealand. Being lake-fed, its flow is relatively steady, though it peaks in spring and drops substantially towards the end of summer.
Shotover River (Grade III–IV; 5hr with almost 2hr on the water). More demanding than the Kawarau, with rapids revelling in names such as The squeeze, The Anvil and The Toilet. They reach their apotheosis in the Mother-in-Law rapid, usually bypassed at low water by diverting through the 170m Oxenbridge Tunne. The 14km rafted section flows straight out of the mountains and its level fluctuates considerably. In October and November, snowmelt ensures good flows and a bumpy ride; by late summer low flows can make it a bit tame for hardened rafters, though it is still scenic and fun for first-timers. In winter the lack of sunlight reaching the depths of the canyon makes it too cold for most people, though you can elect to do a much shorter trip by accessing the rapids by helicopter.
Landsborough River (Grade III; mid-Nov to April Friday departures; 3 days). Fly-in wilderness trip with camping beside the river – it’s more about the whole experience than the whitewater.
Rees–Dart Track
The Rees–Dart Track (58km; 3–4 days) is the toughest of the major tramps in the area, covering rugged terrain and requiring six to eight hours of effort each day. It follows the standard Kiwi tramp formula of ascending one river valley, crossing the pass and descending into another, but adds an excellent side trip to the Cascade Saddle.
The Routeburn Track
The fame of the Routeburn Track (32km; 2–3 days) is eclipsed only by that of the Milford Track, yet arguably it is superior, with better-spaced huts, more varied scenery and a route mostly above the bushline, away from sandflies. The Routeburn is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks, and one of the finest of them, straddling the spine of the Humboldt Mountains and providing access to many of the southwestern wilderness’s most archetypal features: forested valleys rich with birdlife (including the rare yellow-headed mohua) and plunging waterfalls are combined with river flats, lakes and spectacular mountain scenery. The nature of the terrain means that the Routeburn is usually promoted as a moderate tramp and the short distance between huts eases the strain. Anyone of moderate fitness who can carry a backpack for five or six hours a day should be fine. That said, the track passes through subalpine country and snowfall and flooding can sometimes close it, even in summer. Fit hikers might consider doing it in two long days, though that doesn’t leave much time for soaking up the scenery.
Most people walk the Routeburn Track westwards from Glenorchy to The Divide. To return to Queenstown from here is a journey approaching 300km, so to avoid backtracking anyone with a day or two to spare should consider a Routeburn combo with the Greenstone Track or Caples Track to make a three- to five-day loop. In winter the Routeburn takes on a different character and becomes a much more serious undertaking. The track is often snowbound and extremely slippery, the risk of avalanche is high and the huts are unheated. Return day-trips from Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Falls Hut and from The Divide to the Lake Mackenzie Hut are much better bets.
Wanaka and around
Pronounced evenly as Wa-Na-Ka, WANAKA, only 55km northeast of Queenstown (but over an hour by road), is kind of like its laidback cousin. There is a similar combination of beautiful lakeshore surroundings and robust adventure activities, but Wanaka remains an eminently manageable place, with the tenor of a village and a feeling of light and spaciousness – an excellent place in which to chill out for a few days.
There’s no beating the setting, draped around the southern shores of Lake Wanaka at the point where the hummocky, poplar-studded hills of Central Otago rub up against the dramatic peaks of the Mount Aspiring National Park.
Although central Wanaka is a pleasant place to café cruise or relax on the foreshore, there are no sights as such. For attractions you’ll either need to head 2km east to Puzzling World or a further 7km to the museums, a micro-brewery and airborne adventure activities around the airport. Alternatively, head 3km west to the delightful Rippon Vineyard. A half-day around the sights will leave plenty of time to go kayaking, jetboating, rock climbing or, best of all, canyoning.
With the jagged summits of the Southern Alps mirrored in Lake Wanaka’s waters, the lure of Mount Aspiring National Park is strong and Wanaka makes a perfect base for easy walks and hard tramps.
During the winter months, Wanaka’s relative calm is shattered by the arrival of skiers and snowboarders eager to explore the downhill ski-fields of Treble Cone and Cardrona, and the Nordic terrain at the Snow Farm.
Brief history
Founded in the 1860s as a service centre for the local run-holders and itinerant gold miners, the town didn’t really take off until the prosperous middle years of the twentieth century, when camping and caravanning Kiwis discovered its warm, dry summer climate. Though still only home to around 7000 people, it is now one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing towns, with extensive developments and new housing subdivisions popping up everywhere.
The Cardrona Valley
William Fox’s unwitting discovery of gold at Arrowtown in 1862 quickly brought prospectors along the Crown Range and into the Cardrona Valley, where gold was discovered later that year. Five years on, the Europeans legged it to new fields on the West Coast, leaving the dregs to Chinese immigrants, who themselves had drifted away by 1870.
Tiny CARDRONA, 25km south of Wanaka, comprises little more than a few cottages, a long-forgotten cemetery, the Cardrona Hotel and the similarly ancient former post office and store.
South from here, the road twists over the Crown Range Road (SH89), the quickest and most direct route from Wanaka to Queenstown, though it is tortuous enough in places to discourage anyone towing a caravan or trailer. Reaching an altitude of 1076m, it is one of New Zealand’s highest public roads and is sometimes closed by snow in winter. Nonetheless, on a fine day the drive past the detritus of the valley’s gold-mining heyday is a rewarding one, with views across bald, mica-studded hills to the tussock high country beyond. At the pass, a great viewpoint overlooks Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu, before it switchbacks down towards SH6 and Queenstown.
The Matukituki Valley and Mount Aspiring National Park
The Matukituki Valley is Wanaka’s outdoor playground, a 60km tentacle reaching from the parched Otago landscapes around Lake Wanaka to the steep alpine skirts of Mount Aspiring, which at 3033m is New Zealand’s highest mountain outside the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. Extensive high-country stations run sheep on the riverside meadows, briefly glimpsed by skiers bound for Treble Cone, rock climbers making for the roadside crags, Matukituki-bound kayakers, and trampers and mountaineers hot-footing it to the Mount Aspiring National Park.
The park, mooted in 1935 but not created until 1964, is one of the country’s largest, extending from the Haast Pass, where there are tramps around Makarora, in the north to the head of Lake Wakatipu (where the Rees–Dart Track and parts of the Routeburn Track fall within its bounds) in the south. The pyramidal Mount Aspiring forms the centrepiece of the park, rising with classical beauty over the ice-smoothed broad valleys and creaking glaciers. It was first climbed in 1909 using heavy hemp rope and without the climbing hardware used by today’s mountaineers, who still treat the mountain as one of the grails of Kiwi mountaineering ambition.
Travelling along the unsealed section of the Mount Aspiring Road beside the Matukituki River, you don’t get to see much of Aspiring, as Mount Avalanche and Avalanche Glacier get in the way. Still, craggy mountains remain tantalizingly present all the way to the Raspberry Creek, where a car park and public toilets mark the start of a number of magnificent tramps into the heart of the park.
Wanaka festivals
New Year’s Eve The one-time youthful revelry has been curtailed in recent years, and the new year is welcomed in with a family-oriented celebration.
Rippon Festival (w ripponfestival.co.nz). One-day rock, roots and reggae festival with a top Kiwi line-up and a magical setting with superb lake and mountain backdrop. There’s always a lively after-party. First Saturday in February every even-numbered year.
A&P Show (w wanakashow.co.nz). Town meets country at Wanaka’s showgrounds on the lakefront with everything from calf-wrangling demos and biggest pumpkin competitions to the perfect Victoria sponge and a Jack Russell race in which up to 100 dogs chase a rabbit dragged around behind a man on a horse. Heaps of food, drink and fun, but accommodation is hard to come by. Second weekend in March.
Warbirds over Wanaka (t 0800 224 224, w warbirdsoverwanaka.com). Wanaka airport plays host to New Zealand’s premier air show – three days of airborne craft doing their thing watched by over 60,000 people. Easter every even-numbered year.
Festival of Colour (w festivalofcolour.co.nz). A biennial celebration of visual art, dance, music, theatre and the like, with top Kiwi acts, including the symphony orchestra, performing all over town and at Hawea. Lots of free stuff, or buy tickets for individual performances. Mid-April in odd-numbered years.
Winter in Wanaka
In June Wanaka gets geared up for winter, mountain-bike rental shops switch to ski rental (see Scenic flights), watersports instructors don baggy snowboarder pants and frequent shuttle buses run up to the ski-fields. If you plan to drive up to the ski-fields, you’ll need tyre chains, which can be rented at petrol stations in Wanaka.