Queenstown 2008

Wow went down to Queenstown for a couple of days. Queenstown is 2000 feet above sea level with a lake Wakatipu which is another 1000 feet deep. So even though this lake is in the mountains the lake bed is below sea level! The mountain range is called the Remarkables and the only thing you can say is that they are!
The weather was cold but fine and the clarity of the air was unbelievable. Right at the back of town is a gondala that shoots you up a near vertical mountain to give you the view above.
Rented a car for 24 hours and drove up into the mountains. Came across an amazing vineyard/Winery in the Hills - Peregrine Wines. They have built the winery under a huge wing roof with a very modernistic structure while also maintaining a very traditional Southland landscape with the old farm buildings
While we were blown away by the setting we also hugely enjoyed the wine tasting!
Went on to Cromwell a little town famous for its apricots. The Old Town was deliberately flooded in 1993 in order to create a hydro lake (Lake Dunstan). Some of the old buildings were moved to lake edge while others are partially demolished or half buried in shingle by the lake edge. Everywhere you look are mountains and water its a totally different land than the North Island of NZ.

We stopped off at the Kawerau Bridge on the way back to Queenstown to check out the bungy jumping into the gorge. We missed our opportunity but hope to get back there after the winter and explore more. Finally went back to Lake Wakatipu and looked out across the Lord of the Rings country and felt like ineffective hobbits against the range of serried mountains. Next summer we are back with hiking boots!