Queenstown is a small but bustling town, built up around the vast Lake Wakatipu with the beautiful snow capped Remarkable's as a backdrop it truly is picture perfect especially when the sky is colourfully painted by the setting sun.

We arrived at the end of the skiing season with many people still lugging their gear up and down the gondola's for the last dredges of snow. However, Queenstown has lots more to offer than just the snow. The birth place of the bungy and by the looks of it every other weird and dangerous activity that an adrenaline junkie would pay good money to do. It really is the adrenaline capitol of NZ or maybe even the world. It's so easy to get drawn into all the outdoor activity hype and we were no exception, within hours of getting there we had booked the Doubtful Sound cruise, the Shotover Jet and the Nevis Bungy Swing!!!

The Doubtful Sound Cruise:
This we booked with Real Journey's and boarded the early morning coach to Manapouri with Ben the most knowledgable driver in the whole of NZ. He was a wealth of information, extending from the geology of the land and farming, plants, animals, the Maori's culture and history, to which is the best ice cream in all of NZ... and that of course is the most important question of all.
We stopped along the way for pictures of Lake Wakatipu with great views of Mt Aurum too. A ferry took us across Lake Manapouri and then another coach took us through the Fiordlands national park and finally onboard the 'Navigator', our home for the night and aptly we were allocated the 'Indian' (as in the ocean) cabin. Once on board we travelled up the Doubtful Sound and out to the Tasman sea, getting to see some seals and penguins too.
The weather was pretty wet but this only added to the charm of the sounds... amazing waterfalls gushing over the sides of the misty mountains creating an enchanting & mystical landscape. We also got up close and personal with the sounds whilst kayaking in one of the 'arms'. As always what made the trip special was the lovely and interesting folk we met on the cruise, like the hysterical Barry & Mary from Sydney who showed us how kayaking should be done (comedy double act) and Smita, George and Saachi, a young Indian family from the USA but currently residing in Beijing... Proving that having children doesn't have to put shackles on your aspirations, indeed it should be an opportunity to enrich the little ones mind too.

The Bungy Swing:
We booked this with AJ Hackett and opted for a tandem bungy swing, thinking that if we are together it wont be so bad only to be told by someone at our hostel that the tandem is scarier because you drop down quicker!!!
On the day, K was feeling surprisingly calm in the morning but S was another matter... on only a few hours sleep she was tripping.
Weighed in and graffitied on our hands we boarded the bus which took us to the Nevis Base and we were first up for the swing... gulp gulp... time for the nerves to really kick in.
The guys doing our swing were a bit cocky and freaked K out even more when she asked what she could hold onto and they said nothing blue, red or metal which was everything on our harness... nervous laugh!!!
We were reeled out so that we were suspended 160 meters above the valley floor and were released for a 70 meter free fall and then 300 meter arc swing across the valley. What a crazy adrenaline rush followed by the 'relaxing' swing with us dangling leisurely high up in the air... now we know why Tarzan prefers this mode of transport.
So there we have it, the worlds biggest swing done and we have the not-so attractive caps to prove it.

The Shotover Jet:
This was lots of fun and right up our street, being driven fast down the Shotover River, getting very close to the narrow canyon walls, doing 360 spins and getting very wet in the process.

There are also a number of outdoor activities that don't require you to part with your hard earned cash, like...
-The Queenstown Gardens park at the other-side of town where you can try your hand at frisbee golf or walk through to the Frankton trail.
-A trek up Queenstown Hill (900m) or the Skyline Gondola trail (just over an hours trek uphill) for amazing panoramic views of Queenstown, the lake and the mountains. And the best thing about the Skyline trail is the yummy choices of ice cream at the top... We opted for passion fruit and cookies and cream.

and that nicely follows on to the food bit...
Fergburger, you'll hear everyone talk about it and you'll wonder what all the hype is about when you witness the very long queues at all times of day... Are they really the best burger ever? Well for the sake of all our readers (ok all three of you) we thought it only right that we find out the answer... S tried the 'Holie Than Thou' a scrummy tempered tofu burger and K had the 'Bun Laden' (so un-PC we know) which was an enormous falafel and goodness concoction. So the verdict is a clear thumbs up from us, so much so that we went back again. The veggie pie from the Fergbakery next door was unique and delicious too.
The Cookie Monster's warm cranberry & white chocolate cookies were special.
Even on the Doubtful Sound cruise we ate like queens, the fresh blueberry and almond muffins on arrival all the way to the 8 different choices of dessert including NZ's national dessert, the pavlova or is that an Australian speciality... We'll leave them to fight it out.

So is Queenstown worth a visit, we'd say a capital letters YES.
Ok so it can be expensive and is known as party central but it also offers so much more which is why we ended up staying there for over a week.