Queenstown
Călin / 21 August 2022
Queenstown, on the shore of lake Wakatipu is the South Island capital of tourism. Ski slopes, glacier lakes, tracks (New Zeeland English for trails) abound. The town is famous for its air quality, good restaurants, and amazing views. We came to Queenstown as part of a Google office retreat; and after spending two days eating and socializing, I was ready for some activities to pay for all the extra calories.
Although it rained cats and dogs the whole day on Thursday, because we lugged our skis across the Pacific, Friday we went skiing. There are 3 ski resorts within 50km (35 miles) of Queenstown. We picked the closest one, The Remarkables, both because of its proximity and because it seemed to have some challenging terrain. The views are truly remarkable; the skiing, not quite. I expect that with more snow, there are some nice runs to be had, but the season has been light on snow and after a day of rain the slopes were either slushy or icy.
The best part was that we got Victor to ski with us pretty much the whole day, all the way down from the top of the mountain.
The worst part, the car park was a mud pit! We got mud all over us and the rental.
Given that we are spoiled by our skiing experince in Utah and Tahoe, we decided to switch gears and go hiking. While the higher mountains are snow capped, Queenstown itself and the valleys surrounding it were clear, with temperatures around 10℃ (50℉). A Google colleague tipped Robert about the Moke Lake track. The drive to the track head was quite exciting, as the paved road eventually ended and we continued on a 1 lane grave road, up into a secluded valley, surrounded by sheep grazing on the versants, with snow capped mountains at both ends of the valley!
The track runs around the lake and it is absolutely gorgeous.
There is a campsite at the track head that was empty at this time of the year, but looks like the perfect place to go and relax.
Stunning as this is, the loop is not that long. It took us about 3h with a very generous lunch break.
Refreshed, we got in the car for a drive to Glenorchy. Glenorchy is at the Western tip of lake Wakatipu, a small, sleepy town, with some stunning views to Mount Earnslaw, one of the remaining glaciers. The drive itself is quite spectacular.
The lagoon at the end of the town has a track that walks you through marshes and meadows, all surrounded by mountain peaks.
We definitely got our fill for the day!
The next day we started early and climbed the Queenstown Hill. It was overcast, but the clouds made it worth taking pictures; and the paragliders didn’t seem to mind it.
Eventually it started to rain on our descent, lightly and did not go through the trees, so the fairies meeting place was dry!
By the time we reached the car it started raining more seriously, so we decided to wait it out with a lunch in Arrowtown. And by the time we were done, the sun started peeking out, so we went to do the 8km loop around Lake Hayes. The hike is really very easy, and the beauty of the mountains reflecting in this glacial lake is out of this world!
