After a quick stop for brekkie at a cafe back in Te Anau this morning, we were back on the road heading to Queenstown. Packing a punch when it comes to adrenaline-charged activities, Queenstown draws tourists in with a host of lake and mountain extreme sports and adventures. In fact, Queenstown is the birthplace of the first commercial bungy jump - invented in the 1980s by AJ Hackett. Caving, rafting, jet-boating, skiiing, sky diving, and parasailing are also on offer - and that's just to get you started.

But what we didn't anticipate was the immense beauty of the buzzy lakeside town. It shouldn't have taken much more than two and a half hours to reach Queenstown but we pulled over so often to enjoy idyllic views from the roadside, it took us hours longer than planned. But how could we resist? The main road in to the town meandered around the 80km-long Z-shaped Lake Wakatipu, with lovely views across the Remarkables Mountain range as well. There were so many look-out points, including the famous Devils Staircase lookout, our Tourism Radio wouldn't shut up. We're convinced the road has been used in a fancy car advert or two as well… It turns out, though, Peter Jackson decided to use Queenstown and some of its unspoilt surroundings as the backdrop for Middle Eart in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Finally reaching our destination, we didn't hang around finding a place to park for the night. Things are a little bit different here in Queenstown, where it's full with tourists and fairly developed (by NZ standards - it was only in the 1950s that tourism took off here), so it took a couple of attempts finding a hostel with an available parking space. We eventually came to Butterfli Lodge. It was a bit pricier than we'd planned, but there was space to park with glorious views of the town and the lake, as well as the utterly scenic backdrop of the jagged indigo profile of the Remarkables. We reckon it's definitely worth the price, especially as it meant we could use the cosy lodge facilities too.

Once we'd settled in and freshened up, we walked 10 minutes down the hill into the main town centre for a mooch around the many shops, laid-back bars and tourist centres. It's out of season, so it's slightly sleepier than we imagine it is during summer and winter months, but there was still a vibrant holiday atmosphere about the place. Not keen on bungy jumping (we know, we're wimps!), we'd managed to get a good internet deal on luging, so we look forward to doing that tomorrow.

After that we took a lovely lakeside stroll, enjoying one of (in our opinion!) NZ's most beautiful views as we stopped for a drink in a waterside bistro. Then we continued to walk along the esplanade to Queenstown Gardens and watched people playing Frisbee golf with stunning sunset views over Queenstown on the other side of the lake.

Back in town we stopped off for sneaky peek at the pretty, wood-beamed Church of St Peter, and Williams Cottage, which is Queenstown's oldest home, built in 1864. That's pretty much it as far as historical attractions are concerned in Queenstown. It was the late 19th century by the time the town sprung up on the back of the gold rush, but we're told nearby Arrowtown offers more of an insight to the time of hopeful prospectors 150 years ago. We've heard it's especially beautiful there in Autumn, so perhaps we'll head through there next...

For now though, we've commandeered the sofa back at the cosy lodge to eat a homemade sausage stew with glorious views out the large windows….Turns out we haven't entirely forgotten how to cook proper meals on our travels!