Article from Travel Lady Magazine
I don’t think Queenstown, New Zealand is exactly what the Queen had in mind for her namesake. While Queenstown is elegant, majestic and grandiose in its physical beauty, the city has a heart for adventure less like a queen and more like that of English adventurer and seaman Captain James Cook who discovered New Zealand and its native Maori people.
While the queen resides many miles from this remote Pacific island, Queenstown has a queen of sorts of its own. You can even stay at her castle. Louise Kiely has been in the hospitality business in Queenstown for 29 years, which might earn her the coronation of Queen of the town. If that’s not enough, she was crowned Queenstown’s Socialite of the Year as well. Louise hosted me at her castle, the Queenstown House, a boutique hotel with 15 unique suites. Louise took me in with her family and friends to give me a taste of the “Queenstown Experience”. The hotel overlooks the city and the bay but provides easy walking access to downtown Queenstown. Besides the stunning view, the pre-dinner cocktail gatherings, fireside sitting rooms and rose filled patios were a potent cocktail that facilitated an amicable connection with the palace’s most interesting guests.
The evening brings out a buffet of nationalities, ages, and persuasions to the Ballarat Street/Mall Street area in a flurry of activity, nightlife and superb people watching. The range of upscale and modest dining options abounds. Try Fishbone, Pier 19, Captain’s Restaurant, Beefeater and Winnie’s; you’ll be off to a great start. You’ll notice that just about everyone’s happy in Queenstown. Enjoy, eat and rest well or stay up late, but the morning and day will bring an entirely different side of Queenstown to light.
A new adventure begins by day in Queenstown. Queenstown by day might be more aptly named something like Redbull City. It’s the southern hemisphere’s extreme sports capital and one of the largest tourist town’s in the southern hemisphere. Daytime brings such fare as canyon swinging, heli biking, glowworm spelunking, glacier exploration, and flightseeing. Or perhaps jet boating and the more typical entrees of world-class bungee jumping, luging, heli skiing, snowmobiling, paragliding, hangliding, photo safari’s, quad biking, fly fishing, white water rafting, kayaking, skydiving, 4×4 touring, wine tours and Lord of The Rings Tours are more to your fancy. Recreational offerings span the seasons and summer and winter each draw about half the annual visitors. In summer, the surreal turquoise colored glacial runoff of the Shotover River and Lake Wakatipu provide the backdrop for all the adrenaline infused activity. In winter, the dramatic beauty of the mountains and glaciers highlight the landscape. Easy access to four skiing areas is a short order from Queenstown.
Queenstown is also the main launching point for Fiordland National Park where you can find the famous Milford Sound, Milford track and glaciers. The Fiordlands are the most rugged and unexplored part of New Zealand, providing yet another variety of unparalleled scenery in what many consider the most physically beautiful place on earth.
When planning your trip, remember the seasons are of course opposite in the southern hemisphere versus the northern hemisphere, so Queenstown can get you out of cold weather in winter and out of the heat in summer. Two weeks never seems like enough time especially if your trip takes you to other parts of the country. However long you stay, your trip will be a royal adventure.
Explore more at http://www.queenstown-nz.co.nz/, www.queenstownhouse.co.nz
Barclay Nelson writes about outdoor and urban experiences. Read his stories on www.cocktailatlas.com, www.carladynews.com and www.travellady.com
