Out and About Queenstown

Queenstown sometimes gets a bad rap.  Though there are certainly options to bungy jump, sky dive, jet boat, para glide, hang glide, party through the night, etc., and the town attracts the people with plenty of money to do it all, Queenstown has lots of aspects that would make it attractive to anyone.

In fact, I often find myself walking around and feeling like the only thing missing on the scene is Sean Connery zipping around town in an old Aston Martin in a sharkskin suit, or sipping martinis in on a bowling club veranda.  There is something about the place that feels old-fashioned, and whether it is the old sailboats or British propriety  of many of the Kiwis, parts of the city feel like the 1960s to me.

The coal-powered TSS Earnslaw in its 100th year on Lake Wakatipu

While walking around yesterday, I was trying to figure a good way to describe Queenstown, and the best I could come up with was to take the small lakeside town of Ephraim where my family used to vacation on the Great Lakes, make it 10 times bigger, and place the Grand Tetons across the lake from town.  That's pretty much what it looks like.

Queenstown Gardens on peninsula to left, town behind and to right

King's Coronation Boat House Cafe

My favorite spot in town is Queenstown Gardens, which takes up an entire peninsula that juts into Lake Wakatipu adjacent to town.  The original settler in Queenstown, William Rees, was an amateur arborist, and planted all kinds of trees in the park.  The massive Ponderosa Pines and Douglas Firs, matched by the arid climate  and sandy soil, makes the park feel like summer on the Metolius River.

The extensive gardens are well looked after, complete with stone bridges over canals, rose gardens, and an old Bowling Club dating from 1904 (a similar vintage as most of its enthusiasts, it seems).

At the far end of the peninsula, is a small gathering of trees and rocks covered with plaques, most of which are dedicated to Queenstown boys killed on Everest, K2, and other climbing ascents.  It's a good reflective little spot on the far side of a large rose garden.

Worth reading this and next plaque

I'm headed out tomorrow for 6 nights in the backcountry on one of the rivers close to Queenstown.  I'll be hitch-hiking there and back, and the weather looks perfect for it.  When I return, I will post pictures of what I find.  In about a week, I think I'll head north towards Mount Cook then look to WWOOF (volunteer on a farm in return for room and meals) or get a job at a winery or an orchard for 2 weeks.