Tuesday and we're off to Queenstown in the district of Otago. A long drive down the coastal road so we set off early. We're booked for the Siberian experience (Siberia referring to the name of a local stream and valley), which includes a small-plane flight, a 3 hour walk and a jet boat ride. Sadly, the bad weather has continued, and our experience is cancelled, so we rescheduled it for the next day and continued on to Queenstown.

On the drive down, we heard on the radio that there had been a bad earthquake in Christchurch, where we had been just 2 days ago. The reports are at first very confused, but it is clearly bad. We are very sad for the people there, who were so relieved to have come through the previous earthquake, just 6 months ago, with damage but no deaths. It appears this time it is much worse. We will try to get updated when we get to our next stop.

Queenstown is a lakeside holiday resort town and a hive of activity at all time of the year as it caters for winter sports as well as summer, so is well equipped with all manner of shops and restaurants to part the tourist from her dollars. Finding our lodge proved a challenge as we wound our way through the streets which were mainly undergoing repairs (so, a little reminder of the London we left behind). But what a treat the Azur Lodge turned out to be, as we were warmly greeted with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc (it seems to be the typical greeting drink of most reputable New Zealand B&B's). Gavin and Tania made sure no luxury was omitted from our villa, which is one of 9, plus the main lodge where we have afternoon drinks and breakfast. The villa (their name for it) is basically one large room with beautifully appointed sleeping and sitting areas, plus a large and luxurious bathroom to the side, all fronted with glass to capture the magnificent views from the hillside we're on, which looks out over Lake Wakatipu, and beyond to the mountain range named the Remarkables. We watched the sun setting over the mountains from the small deck just off the sitting area. Dinner that night was casual, in town at Fish Bone Restaurant which served us simple grilled fish and a lovely salad with a dozen varieties of tomatoes, and a good white wine. Gavin from the Lodge picked us up after dinner and brought us back-they provide this as a service to avoid guests having to worry about driving after a glass of wine or two. More places should offer this!

Next day at breakfast we met a young couple on honeymoon, from NYC. They were off for a helicopter ride followed by skydiving—her idea, and he tried without a great deal of success to echo her enthusiasm. By way of contrast (and perhaps reflecting the slight age difference), we opted for a slightly less strenuous day of sightseeing. Our first stop was a visit to Arrowtown, a nearby village that had its heyday during the area's 1860s gold rush, when it was home to a group of Chinese miners who'd arrived to try their luck in the gold fields. The town's mid-late 19th century architectural heritage had been largely retained, and now contains some interesting shops, not just the usual t shirt and post card sellers. At many of the places we've stayed in this country, the custom is to place a lovely soft sheepskin rug by the bedside, so we decided this is one custom that would translate superbly to London. We gave in and bought two sheepskin rugs in Arrowtown (we've seen them in lots of places but this shop made it very easy by posting them back to London for us).

Then it was back to Queenstown to catch the noon trip across the lake of the TSS Earnshaw. This coal powered steamship is still operated by men who stoke the furnaces with coal just as they did 100 years ago, when it was used to ferry anything from cattle and sheep to less animate cargo between towns on opposite sides of the lake. It was a lovely day, mid 70s in temperature (21-22 C for those of the metric persuasion) and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. It was a round trip of almost 2 hours, and we got a chance to see the city of Queenstown and the surrounding mountains from the water, enjoying the sedate ride on this grand dame of a more leisurely era. Afterwards, we drove up to the top of Coronet peak, the local ski slope, to take in the expansive view of the mountains, valley, town and lake. We also watched some people taking off with hang gliders, from a ledge 100 feet below us, and gliding over and around the lovely valley. Once we'd lost sight of them, we turned around and drove back to the lodge. As the day was so glorious (like a fine autumn day in New England) we dropped the car and hiked part way around the lake, just along the water's edge, mostly under cover of the trees and large ferns (10 plus feet high) that are common in the area. Very peaceful, with frequent glimpses of the lake sparkling to one side, a lovely place to walk. Back at the lodge, we opted for dinner there, so we ordered a pizza to be delivered to us, and opened a bottle of wine we'd bought in Marlborough, then sat and watched the sun set behind the mountains across the lake. A lovely way to end the day.