Hi all
(R) Just had a week in the lovely Queenstown. 8/1/16 – 13/1/16

We stayed in a very pleasant “bookabach” just outside the town centre. The drive from the west coast was as ever breath taking, stunning and outstanding, every corner we turned we were in awe of the areas natural beauty. The sun shone down on us making our viewing mesmerizing and at times we were lost for words as we soaked up the array of the areas fauna and flora.

No trip to Queenstown is not complete without the obligatory stop off at the Ice Bar, so that was our challenge on the first night. Our $36 fare paid, and after being kitted out in the snow jackets, boots and gloves we were inside slugging down 2 very tasting cocktails. It was brill inside and as I’ve never visited one before, I could not believe how much fun I had and can’t wait for my next visit.
Throughout the week we visited several areas around Queenstown, again most we had not visited before including taking the Cardrona Alpine Road enroute to Wanaka. If it’s stunning views your after, then I suggest this route, and even after several photo stops we still arrived earlier than if we took the road via the gorge.
Another area we drove to was to Glenorchy at the northern point of Lake Wakatipu, about 50 minutes north of Queenstown. Reading through the guide books this area of stunning beauty, it states it is a film makers paradise, as films such as XMEN, Wolverine, the Hobbit (to name a few), have all been filmed here. If I’ve ever gone on about natural outstanding beauty, then nothing compares to this area. It is totally unspoilt, and made me wonder if Queenstown and Wanaka were like this before the invention of adrenaline adventures. It was beautiful and a must see if your ever in this neck of the woods.

Cromwell was a slow pacing town and again an area we were not sure what it had to offer, until we stopped and talked to the locals. They informed us of the Historic Precinct next to the lake, so off we went. What a gorgeous surprise this was, the local historic trust has rebuilt the original town, after a massive flooding decades ago. Each building an exact replica of those at the turn of the century. We were able to go into each of these and read about what each building was used for. Also most of these have now been taken over by local small business people, who sell their wears each day. I can totally recommend this area and to go for a coffee and cake at Almondos Italian Cafe, the hot chocolate was heavenly.
(T) As we have been to Queenstown a few times we didn’t do all the usual visits so instead we decided to get tattoo’s. We asked the artist for a Maori symbol for what is most important to us, he showed a tattoo he had done representing Family, Love, Health & Travel, perfect. So we went ahead with slightly different drawings and we are chuffed to bits with them. Queenstown with all there is to do and loads of bars and restaurants still remains one of my favourite places in NZ.