Hoosier Kiwi: Queenstown

Finally, Molly and I have left the comforting hills of Dunedin and, with Claire and Oliver at hand, we ventured to the mountains of Queenstown. We drove from Dunedin through Milton, Miller's Flat, Roxburgh, Alexandra, Clyde, Cromwell, and into Queenstown (see map below). With the exception of a few places, most of the major roads we traveled on were two-lane, winding highways with very little traffic and varied terrain, both beautiful and stark.

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Very large fruit is grown in Cromwell.

This is the overlook at the Roaring Meg Hydro Electric scheme on the Roaring Meg River.

The Roaring Meg is named after either a Scottish cannon or a rather boisterous "paramour" of gold miners back in the gold rush. The history one chooses to except may say something about one's personality, don't you think?

Central Otago is well known for its vineyards. The Pinot Noir is very popular and rightfully so. You could easily spend a few days doing the "Wine Trail." We stopped at Gibbston Valley Winery and had lunch.

A few hundred meters down the road is the Kawarau Bridge where bungee jumping was invented. The bridge is about 45 meters (147 ft.) above the cold, clear water of the Kawarau River. Even if you don't plan to jump (we didn't), its worth stopping to see.

This is the bridge from the viewing platform.

This person is wondering why she paid good money to leap off a perfectly safe bridge because she is looking straight down at . . .

this.

Queenstown was not what I expected. I had it in my mind that the town--not the skiing--was going to compare in someway to a place in Colorado. I thought it would be similar to a North American ski resort like an English Vail or Aspen. In fact, it was much more like a Steamboat Springs, a Breckenridge, or even a Frisco or Silverthorne. That was a pleasant surprise. We went up in the Skyline gondola which had excellent views and some fun things to do (the gondola does not go to a ski area).

Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu

Getting ready to ride the Luge

The Luge as seen from above. This is an 800 meter concrete track that you ride down on carts that accelerate down the track by force of gravity and the occasional use of brakes.