Quaint Queenstown

What a wonderful little place all tucked away between beautiful mountains and surrounded by a fabulous lake. We arrived by the small Cessna plane and had several hours to venture out and about the town before the group joined us. There are tons of shops, restaurants and beautiful views of the lake and mountains.  We began our second day in Queensland with a Jet Boat ride. It was quite the thrill. Of course, Joan wanted to sit in the two front seats.

It was a blast. A little scary as the guy drives this boat about 60 mph down the Shotover River. The river is very narrow and shallow with rocks pocking out.   The ride took us very quickly toward those stones and through the narrow openings. Yipes! We did 360 spins right at the edge of the river that seemed like we were going to crash right into the mountain. Crazy! Carol screamed the entire time, but had fun. Good thing our driver had done these more than 4,000 times.

We then got a small group of folks together and hired two drivers to take us into the New Zealand wine country. We visited several wineries and had some great wines. We had lunch at Waitiri Creek winery. It was so cool. Their building was an old small country Presbyterian Church brought in from the south of New Zealand. The Chardonnay was outstanding.

Unfortunately it is extremely expensive to ship a case of wine back to the USA, so we bought a bottle to enjoy while we are still here. We tasted their variety of wines while they served us lunch that included a variety of local cheeses, breads, meats, veggies, nuts, etc. There was an awesome homemade sunflower brittle that was to die for.

Afterwards, we decided to venture off to a small town nearby named Arrowtown to see what a small town tucked away in New Zealand looked like. It was so cute. The buildings were so taken care of with their beautiful flowers and fences.

It was typical “small town”. The town was established when gold was found in the creek running behind it. When someone found gold anywhere, people flocked there from around the world. Gold can still be found in the creek, but doubtfully enough to make anyone rich.