Q for Queenstown

Queenstown on New Zealand’s south island is known as the adventure sports capital of New Zealand. When I visited there in June 2003 during a year of travel, my backpacker budget was stretched. So not for me the skiing, bungee jumping, whitewater rafting, helicopter flights, sky diving, 4wd off road tours. Despite a stretched budget, I still managed to sample one of the towns other famous pursuits…its legendary nightlife. I arrived in cross country from Dunedin on a gloriously crisp and sunny winter’s day, travelling alone. Checking into the YHA – surely one of the most spectacular settings for a hostel anywhere in the world, with beautiful Lake Wakatipu in front and the Remarkables mountain range snow capped in the distance – I knew no one in town. By the time I left town a few days later, I’d visited plenty pubs and made many friends! In my defence, I did complete one active task during my time there, which was to walk up Queenstown hill on a sunny winter afternoon. The views from 900 metres up certainly made it worthwhile. Oh and I also tried some outdoor ice skating on my last day there, albeit very badly!

My two months in New Zealand as part of that year away travelling in 2002/2003 were the highlight of that year, and the time spent in Queenstown was one of the highlights of my time in NZ. It wasn’t all about drinking $2.50 pints of Loopy Juice or walking up hills either. A drive in the rain to Glenorchy searching for sites where Lord of the Rings had been filmed with English and Welsh friends from the hostel was great fun. We found no LOTR sites though, as it turned out! A drive down to Te Anau and the world famous Milford Sound fjord with another bunch from the hostel was another highlight. The drive down with snowy hills and peaks as far as the eye could see was almost as spectacular as the boat trip out into the fjord. Despite all this lovely nature stuff, it’s still the craic of the three nights out in Queenstown which stand out most. For a twenty five year old, kissing a lesbian and a divorcee all in the same weekend in this  beautiful party town stood out as big moments on that world trip!