NZ Family Travels: Day 19 to 23

What's Queenstown Like?
Queenstown is one of the most visited places in New Zealand. It is a hive of tourist activity and it's no wonder the property prices in the Queensland Lakes District have increased 30% since 2016. If you visit the South Island, you should make it a point to visit Lake Wakatipu's centre of attraction. If you want to book activities, I recommend you use bookme.co.nz for cost savings as we had done on a few occasions.

On to our trip proper...

Distance traveled - 90km

Lake Hawea to Queenstown Journey
We took the nice scenic route through Cadrona Valley. The Crown Range Summit is a great place to stop and smell the fresh air and take in the views. You can see snow-capped mountains and overlook Lake Wakatipu right below. Before heading to Queenstown, we decided to stop by...

Day 19

Arrowtown
Arrowtown is just a stone's throw away from Queenstown. If you want a break from all the activities, Arrowtown is a historic gold mining town with great cafes and restaurants. We took a stroll through the streets and had some good food and coffee (Arrowtown Bakery & Cafe) in the vicinity.

Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park (Accommodation)
We plonked our stuff down at this holiday park. Unlike the previous holiday park at Lake Hawea, this was a highly structured place that may not appeal universally. Read more in our account.

Pak'nSave Queenstown (Supermarket)
Address - 302 Hawthorne Drive, Frankton

Since our stomachs were filled, we headed to restock on groceries at an absolutely new Pak'nSave supermart, that opened just earlier in the month. Located in Frankton, this was to be our most frequented supermarket of our trip. We headed here four times (including after our Te Anau stay) and it's likely you will need visit either this outlet or the nearby Countdown.

Day 20
Skyline Queenstown Gondola & Luge (Place to visit)
Address - Brecon St
Price - NZD 33 / adult for Gondola

We decided to spend the entire day taking the gondola. It's just a 5 minute walk away from our lodging. Taking the Skyline Gondola will give you the most picturesque of views of Queenstown and the mountain range known as The Remarkables.

The Skyline Luge is an accompanying experience not to be missed. You need to take the skylift all the way higher and then grab a luge. We tried the scenic Blue Track with gentle gradients. I'd recommend to buy the Gondola + 2 Luge Ride combo for NZD 47. It was great fun especially for our 2 toddlers who were cackling all the way down.

Day 21
Queenstown CBD
We spent the day walking around Queenstown CBD. It's a good place to get a variety of food and simply to soak in what the town offers. We discovered the wharf where the cruises docked. Further down, we found the O'Connells Shopping Centre with a food court and a Spark outlet. We walked quite a bit so grabbed some sushi from Hikari Sushi to eat.

Beach at Queenstown Bay (Place to visit - Free)
Address - 38 Marine Parade

We spent the afternoon here 'cos it's a great place to just relax and watch the boats and ducks go by. Our kids were chilling at the nearby playground and doing their thing in the water.

Day 22
Million Dollar Cruise
NZD 39 / adult for 1h30min

We booked this cruise through bookme.co.nz. We packed some lunch from town and headed to the wharfs. If you want a more personal experience, this is it. Betty runs the counter while Wayne runs the boat and onboard commentary.

The cruise brings you to the more posh areas around Lake Wakatipu. There's a bar where you self serve through an honesty box.

Day 23
Fergburger (Restaurant / Place to Visit)
Address - 42 Shotover St

If you want to try some real decent burgers, this is the place! The Fergburgers are real juicy and they do not disappoint. As there were really long queues outside, I decided to give them a call (64-3441-1232) and collected my order 15 minutes later.

Kayaking at Queenstown Bay
Price - $20 per pax
It was a nice sunny day so we decided to try the kayaks. The blokes there wanted to charge a hefty $80 for us (including the kids) which I thought was absurd so I bargained to half the amount. It was the first kayak ride for our toddlers so needless to say, my older kid wanted to learn how to paddle. They loved the experience and so did we!

So we spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach where the sun was out. Folks were out having a round of Speights and there were some jolly Maoris that were rocking the nearby pontoon and having a great time. T'was a wonderful afternoon.