Crown Range Road
by kiwi
If you visit during summer, and have a vehicle available to you, consider the drive over the Crown Range to Wanaka.
You must be a competant driver, and the weather must not be icey.
On the road out of Queenstown, Hwy 6, towards Cromwell, take the turning to the Crown Range, on the left side of the road. Or it may be signposted Cardrona Road.
The initial part of the road is a steep windy climb up to the plateau, and the rest is much easier going.
You can view more photos of this road here. When you get to the top of the windy part, there is a fine lookout where I suggest you stop to take in the view looking back to Arrowtown.
Before you reach Wanaka, you pass the well known Cardrona Hotel, well worth a stop for coffee or lunch, or even beer. The old pioneers hotel has been renovated and has accommodation out the back. The hotel is found on the road, beneath Mt Cardrona and the Cardrona skifield.
NZ has a very young history but this is one of the older places.
Just a little further along you come to the airfield and it's fence of brassieres. An "interesting" occurance of ladies discarding their bra's to add to the collection swinging in the wind.
Shotover Jet
by batgirl1001
The shotover jet is one thing you can consider doing while in Queenstown. It is fun for both kids and adults.
The boats moved really fast and spins around several times on water as low as 20cms. A bit of advice, in winter, dress warmly.
Also how to avoid the splashes? Stay close to the driver in the middle of the boat. Those who sit at the ends always end up wet.
In winter, there was a discount so instead of $95, they charge us $85 and close at around 6pm (dark). However in summer, it is very popular and you need to book 1 day in advance to get a place. It also closes late in summer at close to 9pm.
The company will also provide free pick-ups from Queenstown.
VISIT ARROWTOWN
by balhannah
Arrowtown was well publicised as .....
New Zealand's only living historic gold mining town , so we decided to go for the short 20 minute drive on a wet day, and check it out.
Arrowtown is an old gold mining town....................
In 1862 a shearer found gold in the Arrow River, news spread, and a town grew by the name of "Fox" which is now "Arrowtown" today.
1500 people soon were here living on the edge of the river, only to be washed away in in the 1863 flood. After this terrible disaster the town was then re-built on higher land.
The Arrow River area is pretty to walk alongside, it was rather nice with Autumn leaves, would have been nicer on a fine day. The main Avenue is of large Sycamore and Oak Trees planted in 1867. What a shame we were not here for the Autumn Leaves festival which is held in the last week of April, it would have been stunning! Not only beautiful Trees and golden leaves to look at, but you can try panning for gold in the River!
Quaint, old shops line the streets with more than sixty of them being restored! The town is very tourist orientated, expect to pay tourist prices! It is pretty, and it is definitively worth a look, I imagine it would be extremely busy on a nice day.
Arrowtown is 21 kilometres north-east of Queenstown and is reached by a side road turning off the Queenstown-Cromwell highway near Lake Hayes.
Imagine... the Pillars of the Kings
by Kakapo2
I would not recommend to immediately stop when you spot the River Anduin aka the Kawarau River on the road to Chard Farm Vineyard. Drive a bit further until you find a spot to make a U-turn, then drive back and stop on the left side of the narrow gravel road. There is a small lay-by right in front of a big rock where you can park safely and admire the views.
Almost certainly you will not spot the Pillars of the Kings as they were photoshopped into the scenery of the Kawarau River Gorge, but quite often some kayakers are paddling down the river. You can very well imagine those huge pillars of the film. In the film the Fellowship spent eleven days paddling downstream the river Anduin which is the longest river in Middle Earth.
Funnily enough, in the film the Fellowship paddled well down the Kawarau River – but left it at Lake Te Anau in Fiordland… ;-)
The LoR land tours like the one I did with Nomad Safaris visit the lookout spot at Cowcliffs Hill. If you want to paddle downstream like the Fellowship you can book a wild rafting trip with the company Extreme Green Rafting: http://www.nzraft.com/
Photo 2 shows the view towards the Kawarau Bridge from this place.
The best burgers ever
by anders1975 about Fergburger
A stop at Fergburger is a must! Either for lunch or a bite after partying Fergburger serves the best! I've never had such a good burger. Here you'll find a good selection of prime beef burgers and fish burgers (Codfather is one). I went for the regular cheeseburger, which was fantastic. The meat was excellent and I had to come back a couple of times during my short weekend stay in Queenstown. Don't miss it - Fergburger is on it's own an attraction in NZ!
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Up a mountain, down a beer
Garlic bread
Coffee and carrot cake
Chinese Settlement
