Know&Go Guide: Queenstown & Wanaka, Otago, South Island, New Zealand
The third largest region in the South Island, Otago has an area of approximately 32,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi). It encompasses the coastal locations of Dunedin (the principal city), Oamaru Balclutha, Alexandra, and the major tourist centres Queenstown and Wanaka.
Nestled on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, the resort town of Queenstown (part of the Otago region) is year-round vacation paradise. Surrounded by snow capped mountains which transform into some of the world's best skiing every winter (June-September). Six ski fields are within 20 minutes to 1½ hours’ drive, catering to all ages and abilities. "Queenstown's iconic Winter Festival is the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest winter celebration which sees locals and visitors take to the streets and ski slopes each June to welcome winter 'Queenstown style.'"
Biking, hiking, golf, wine and water sports are also major attractions. It's a region blessed with an embarrassment of riches.
Queenstown
If all of New Zealand is known as the Adventure Capital of the World, then Queenstown is its living, beating heart. Just driving in from the south along Highway 6 through the area known as The Devil's Staircase is enough to get anyone's blood pumping. A good thing, too as you'll need all your red corpuscles active if you are going to indulge in any of the reported 220 adventure tourism activities awaiting you.
Packed with sporting and outdoor activities - this is the region where bungy jumping was invented - you can find skiing, jet boating, whitewater rafting, luging, zip-lining & hiking (tramping in Kiwi), paragliding, sky diving, fly fishing and mountain biking to name just a few, and more are being added all the time.
Of course, you don't have to be adrenaline junky to enjoy Queenstown, there are also beauty spots, shopping, restaurants and sedate lake cruises to indulge in. Pretty much something for everyone.
Glenorchy
If it's a lovely day, the 45 minute drive north to the small town of Glenorchy (pop. 500) at the top of Lake Wakatipu is a fabulous thing to do. The views along the way are stunning and you'll get to drive the northern part of the dogleg lake which is NZ's longest at 80km (50 mi).
If you drive into Queenstown from the south, as I did, then continuing up to Glenorchy would mean driving the entire length of the inhabited side of the lake, the other being untouched land. The third largest lake at 291km2 (112mi2) it has a scary depth of 380m (1,250ft), which when you calculate that it's situated at 310m (1,020ft) above sea level, means it drops below sea level at its deepest point.
This is Middle-earth country as Glenorchy was a filming location for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, with Isengard, Lothlorien and Amon Hen positioned nearby. Horse trekking is popular here, but if you prefer shank's pony, the start of the famous Routeburn Track is a 30 minute, 20km drive along a partially unsealed road north of town.
There are lovely little cafés and shops where I bought some knitted wool & possum fur gloves - a speciality of the town - which are super warm. Possums are an introduced species and a major agricultural and conservation pest, so legal culling is encouraged. There's even a business for exporting possum carcasses to Asian for human consumption, where it's regarded as a delicacy and known as "Kiwi bear."
It's easy to spend a few hours in this lovely little town, eating, strolling and gazing at the splendour of New Zealand.
Wanaka
Wanaka was settled during the goldrush of the 19th century and the township is situated in a glacier carved basin on the southern shores of Lake Wanaka. Surrounded by mountains, including the Crown Range and Southern Alps, it's the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. Wanaka is now considered a different region from Queenstown, when in reality they are both part of the larger Otago region.
Considered a quieter option to Queenstown and primarily a resort town, it's perfect for family vacations where self-sufficiency and getting back in touch with nature and each other are the order of the day. It offers similar attractions to Queenstown and some of New Zealand's best skiing so it's very busy in high season (July–September).
A major tourism drawcard is the Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow which runs over three days in March biennially (the next in 2016), showcasing vintage war planes and their newer descendants. Flightseeing and skydiving from the airport, watersports, annual festivals and permanent attractions, like Puzzling World, a topsy turvy attraction designed to challenge you, provide entertainment for all the family.
You have two options for the drive from Queenstown; the shorter (60 minutes) is steep and winding up over the Crown Range or the longer (90 minutes) which is flat and straight along Highway 6. I chose the shorter and had to slow down to snails pace many times to make the hairpin turns to avoid driving into the busy oncoming lane. It certainly made for interesting driving.
Experience
Bob's Peak has been a major attraction since a road was carved to the top in 1961 and bus trips were offered. In 1964 The Chalet was built and Skyline Tours were taking up to six bus loads a day to the top. Then in 1967 the first gondola was built - with über cool 1960s bubble cars - and they've never looked back.
The steepest cable car lift in the southern hemisphere takes you 450 metres (1476 feet) above Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu to the top of Bob's Peak from where you can embark on further adventures or just enjoy the views and dine casually or formally, day or night. You can buy package tickets at the base station which include the return journey and a meal or activities. It can save you money and is a good bet, just decide beforehand what you want to do and get it first before boarding to save.
Once at the top there are plenty of activities to keep you busy. The two best being...
Once you arrive on the gondola, head down the path to the chairlift which takes you to the top of the luge track. Simple, gravity driven carts let you control the brakes and steering, so you point the nose of your cart down one of two winding, downhill tracks and brake if you feel like it. Then take the chairlift ride back up to the top again.
This is the most fun you can have on four non-powered wheels. It's an exhilarating ride and I highly recommend it. Like being at the state fair without all the deep-fried foods!
Established in 2002 in Whistler, Canada, Ziptrek were among the first to showcase zip-lining in North America. Not content with that they decided to conquer the southern hemisphere as well and where better than Queenstown? I ascended the mountain via gondola but was descending in a very different way, by zip-line. Having experienced zip-lines twice before I knew what to expect, or so I thought. This is a very different experience and being an ecotour there were educational elements and hiking involved.
The good people of Ziptrek are protectors or the environment and want to ensure that us laymen understand the work they are doing and what we can do to save our precious planet. With displays at every station they will gives talks if you express interest, however, if it's not your thing, that's fine too and you can just enjoy the trip. I was on the ‘Kea Tour’ which takes you from the near the gondola station to the base of the mountain via six lines and a "20-minute guided trek along a new extension of the local 'Tiki Trail'" to the last line. It's an adventure for sure!
Consume
Rest
Fergburger is a Queenstown institution, you can't say you've been to Queenstown until you've eaten here. It's a badge of honour.
Starting as a hole in the wall burger joint serving the night-time crowd, it's grown - but not by much to a slightly bigger establishment with some tables and queues out the door. There is one, very good reason for their success...great food! This is not your Micky D's type of burger we're talking here.
Busy day and night, if you dislike queuing it may put you off, but if you want to feast on some fabulous food, persevere and you won't be disappointed. I ordered the 'Big Al', the biggest burger on the menu – a real (Wo)Man Versus Food moment – and it was magnificent. Full disclosure: I managed to eat just one quarter before calling it quits and taking the rest to go.
The gorgeous bakery next door, Fergbaker, is open 16 hours a day - a rarity it the baking world - providing fresh-baked goodies of all types. Next to that is Mrs Ferg Gelateria providing dessert. Soon it won't be Queenstown it will be Fergtown!
Leaving the bustle of Queenstown behind, my home for the night was in quieter Wanaka. The Alpine Resort is more like an upscale community. My apartment was two bedroom with a drive-in garage, full kitchen, large bathroom with underfloor heating, laundry, outdoor dining area and all the facilities I could have wanted for a week or more stay. Facilities also include a swimming pool, jacuzzi, tennis court, gym, petanque terrain, barbecue area, sauna and games room.
Worth the drive and the quality of sleep that noisy Queenstown probably have prevented.