Queenstown New Zealand Holiday and Visitor Guide.

Our holiday guide about Queenstown in New Zealand includes visiting Arrowtown, the Skyline Gondola, Lake Watatipu and ride on the Earnslaw Steam Boat - also The Gates of Haast, Wanaka and Hawea Lakes.

We drove from Franz Josef to Queenstown and once we had passed through Fox Glacier there was not a lot to look at really with only an occasional glimpse of the coast - also it is worth noting there are no garages for this 120 kilometre trip.
However once we turned inland at Haast we thought the remainder of the drive was one of the most scenic trips we did whilst on holiday in New Zealand especially whilst going through the Haast Mountains and the Gates of Haast gorge.

This was soon to be followed by the beautiful Wanaka and Hawea Lakes - the latter was almost unbelievable for it's scenery and like most people driving along this route we continually stopped to take a better view. We then continued up and over the Crown Range - this excellent and scenic drive ended up taking us ages to drive.

Haast Mountains - Gates of Haast. The Gates of Haast is a mountain pass in the Mount Aspiring National Park of the Southern Alps and carries the SH6 over a saddle at a height of 562 metres above sea level.

The Makarora River and the Haast River are in valleys on either side - the scenery is beautiful - amongst many of the excellent things to enjoy looking at along here are the Fantail Falls and the aptly named Thunder Creek Falls which crash down 28 metres.

Pictures of Lake Wanaka are shown on the left and of Lake Hawea on the right.  These are just a few of the pictures we took whilst travelling alongside these beautiful lakes. When you think about New Zealand this scenery around the lakes probably says it all about what you would expect to see when on holiday there.

The SH6 reaches a road junction a little way passed Albert Town - the main road to get to Queenstown then makes a huge semi-circle - this is probably still the fastest way. However much nicer is to take the SH84 into Wanaka and around halfway through the town on the left take McDougal St. - this soon becomes the Cardrona Valley Road. The road becomes very narrow as it wanders up into the hills - often with a stream for company. Shortly after passing Cardrona the road magically changes name to the Crown Range Road - eventually after a few bends you end really high up at Crown Terrace which is the highest tar-mac'd road at 1121 metres in New Zealand - there really are some fabulous views to be enjoyed. From here you continue on and soon the road becomes really steep and also has some enormously tight hair-pin bends - the road ultimately arrives at a junction with the SH6. Turn right and continue into Queenstown passing Arrow Junction, Lower Shotover and Frankton in the process. You should take note of weather conditions before using this lovely 68km route from Wanaka to Queenstown as the area is pretty wild and isolated - needless to say there are no facilities of any kind along the way.

Queenstown. Built around an inlet on Lake Wakatipu and with a fantastically scenic backdrop of mountains -  The Remarkables - the holiday resort town of Queenstown has just about anything sport-wise available that you can think of. Close by there are four ski fields or you can try bungee jumping, mountain biking or jet boating on the Kawarau and Shotover Rivers.

Also there are golf courses, with luck some cricket going on and of course tramping on the famous Routeburn Trail, as well as shorter trails like the Sylvan Lake Trail and Lakeview Trail.

Skyline Gondola. The Skyline Gondola is actually a cableway which takes you the 450 metres up the side of Bob's Peak and gives you ever increasing scenic views of the surrounding area. This is nothing compared to the views you get of Lake Wakatipu with the Remarkables behind it, as well as Coronet Peak, Walter Peak and Cecil Peak once you get to the top however and use their viewing platform.
There is a large restaurant/cafe up on the Peak as well as the opportunity to try bungee jumping or perhaps somewhat less scary you can have a go on a luge.

TSS Earnslaw and Lake Watatipu. Built in 1912 the twin screw steamer TSS Earnslaw still makes regular trips from Queenstown across Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak High Country Farm. We decided to take a return trip on the steamship at the last moment one late afternoon - there were only around 20 of us travelling so you could really wander around and look at the steam engines etc. Better still on the return leg from the Farm we were the only passengers so it was like having your own private boat - excellent.

Arrowtown. Just a little way out of Queenstown and located alongside the banks of the Arrow River is the historic gold mining town of Arrowtown. The authorities preserve the "old mining town feel" by applying strict appearance rules covering it's shops, houses and buildings. Even in early December the area was pretty busy with tourists like ourselves - what was a nuisance was that the main street was lined both sides with parked cars etc. so it was not too easy to really see the low buildings let alone photo them.
                 
If ever there was a case for pedestrianising somewhere this is a classic example. There are quite a few shops, several cafes and cake and pie shops - plus a nice grass area near the river where you can sit and eat your cakes with the help of extremely tame sparrows, blackbirds and thrushes. A short distance from the main street are where the Chinese and Japanese immigrants used to live in their small houses - many of these have been excavated and re-created.

Shotover River and Coronet Peak Ski Resort. We took a drive out from Queenstown taking SH6 to Arrowtown. Just before reaching the long bridge which crosses the Shotover River there is a road off to the left which takes you to the Old Shotover Bridge - this is worth a look at. There is a small parking area and a well made path down onto the old bridge. There marvellous views all round (as you come to expect in New Zealand..) of the mountains, the new bridge and of course the wide Shotover river.
After a look round Arrowtown we took the Malaghans Road heading towards Arthurs Point - and took a road on the right signposted to Coronet Peak Ski Area. This is a narrow, bendy and eventually steep road from which you can get marvellous views of everywhere just about.
The actual Ski Resort area was closed when we were at Queenstown - they were doing some major building work and anyway this was Summer time. A little way back down from the resort there is a small parking area on the right where you again get great views of the mountains and valley. From here a quite rough track does continue on to eventually reach Skippers Historic Bridge however this is marked for 4-wheel drive vehicles only.

Once you get back down onto Malaghans Road turn right to continue on to reach the Shotover River and Edith Cavell Bridge.  Immediately before reaching the Edith Cavell one lane bridge there is a small road on the right where you will find a large parking area. This is the base for taking rides on the Shotover Rapids - you will also find a large cafe/restaurant there too.

Go to the Top of this Page For more Topics, Links or to Email us see our New Zealand Home Page If you have any comments please visit our Foxy's Blog.

Our Other Holiday and Travel Web Sites are about the Greek and Canary Islands, England, Cyprus, Portugal, Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Egypt - Sharm el Sheikh and Luxor. Please see our Home Page for links to these topics.

www.New-Zealand-Travel-Guide.co.uk