Neither of us were quite sure what to make of Queenstown. We'd been told by lots of people how nice it was, and the scenery certainly is pretty with the expansive lake (17x the surface area of Windermere), gorgeous autumnal trees and The Remarkables mountains towering above. The road into Queenstown is lined with motels, most with big glass windows to boast of the fireplaces and white leather sofas inside, and there were more shops bars and restaurants than anywhere else since Christchurch. We parked at the top of a very steep hill (managing to actually find free parking) and explored. Every other shop was a booking office for some adrenaline pumping thrill experience, all of which seemed very expensive. Instead we took a boat trip around the lake which was pleasant, and actually not ridiculously priced. We sailed past the posh houses on the peninsular which got all the sunshine, a roundish hill used in filming LOTR and X-Men, willow bushes that grew from canes placed in the lake to mark shallow channels and the dam at the end which was a catastrophic failure and is now used as a road bridge instead.

The campsites in town were eye-wateringly expensive (you'll notice a pattern here...) so we drove to a DoC site towards Glenlochy further along the lake which had good views of the mountains. In the morning we could see a fresh dusting of snow on some of the lower peaks, the first of the year. We spent the morning having a much-needed shower at the YHA, doing laundry and mooching around shops looking at extortionate outdoor gear.

In the afternoon we headed over the hill to Arrowtown, a small gold-rush village surrounded by stunning colourful trees, the river from Arwen's crossing in LOTR and lots of Japanese tourists. There was an old Chinese settlement to walk around where the Chinese gold miners lived a pretty meagre life; it must have been bitterly cold in winter. We bought some cider mixed with boysenberry (sort of a raspberry/blackberry) wine which was enjoyed later that evening.

We drove up the valley to watch the jet boats flying down the gorges which was pretty impressive, then to the AJ Hackett bungee to watch people jumping and to get a cup of tea. A cup of tea cost $3, a bungee and souvenir video was closer to $300. After a brief stop at a cheesery where we sampled some gorgeous local cheese we headed back to the campsite for the evening.

Anna