Day 81 Queenstown, NZ

Today we spent the day in this very small but active town. With a population of about 5,000 you would think we could buzz thru here in a day and take in all that is of interest. Wrong! We started with a short tour of the town. This town caters to outdoor enthusiasts with great hiking, biking and water activities in the summer and a skiing in the winter. The town is filled with little bars and restaurants and outdoor clothing and supply stores. It is located in a gorgeous valley and sits on the shore of Lake Wakatipu. Since it is fall here the colors are stunning. Over the years the Kiwis have imported European trees such as oak and maple which add a great deal to the color.
After our walk thru town we visited two different artists who paint in this area. The first is a wheel chair bound man who is extremely self-sufficient. He lives by himself and paints beautiful pictures that are representative but lack great detail. The second artist paints in great detail, so well in fact that many of his works seem to jump off the canvas and have a three dimensional quality to them. It turns out he is originally from Billings, Montana.
We had lunch at Gibbsons Winery. Here we learned about the wine making process and tasted many of their wines. This area is famous for their Pinot Noir.
Then we visited the site of the first commercial bungee jumping operation in the world. We watched a few brave souls take the plunge before we moved on.
After a brief stop in Arrowtown we hustled back to Queenstown and took the gondolas up to the top of the mountain that overlooks the town. There we raced luges around a track and took many pictures of this stunning area. The pictures we posted with this blog should give you a understanding of the natural beauty of this quaint little town. This was a great day to experience with the entire family how wonderful New Zealand can be. It was unanimous, this is an indescribably fabulous location.
Tomorrow we visit Milford Sound.

Chris - I'm baaaack!! Thanks, Stephan for yesterday's blog. Queenstown was originally a 1860's gold mining camp that sits at 45 degrees latitude, the exact same latitude as where we live in Montana...only upside down. It also is a stunningly beautiful alpine town that would remind you of Montana, Colorado or Switzerland, yet it seems to be even more beautiful. For me it's the diversity of the landscape that is so breathtaking. It is surrounded by the majestic Remarkables mountain range in the snow rich Southern Alps, the sparkling blue Lake Wakatipu and the green, gentle rolling hills of farm land dotted with sheep. All set in a vista of blue skies and sculptured clouds that play with the mountain peaks. Even on a rainy day it was a sight to behold. It also would be a nightmare for me to have raised my kids, as it is 'The Adventure Capital of the World'. Bungee Jumping, Glider Flights, Sky Diving, Heliocopter Rides, Ballooning, Jet Boating, White Water Rafting, Segway Tours, 4 Wheeling, Sailing on an America's Cup Sailboat, Fixed Wing Trick Flying and anything else you could possibly think up that would be death defying. However, you don't have to be an adrenaline junkie to have a fabulous time as they as have the more typical activities like Horseback Riding, Biking, Golf, Tennis, Skiing, and lots of walking trails etc. Add to that setting a compact and sophisticated downtown area tucked into a picturesque bay. There are a tremendous amount of restaurants with a wide range of cuisines and the shops you would expect to see in a resort town. One notable product of this area is Merino wool clothing. Very expensive in the States the wool products are known for their warmth, light weight and ability to be machine washed. We visited an outlet store for Merino wool in the historic town of Arrowtown and all but one of us came away with something to wear....I was NOT the one who didn't participate. You'll probably see my purchase tomorrow when we head to Milford Sound, postponed from today due to torrential downpours there.