Queenstown is about an hour south of Wanaka and is very much the heart of the Otago region. Being New Zealand, the drive involves quite gorgeous scenery.
After a few brief photo stops we arrived in Arrowtown, a picturesque historic gold mining town geared toward to silver haired tourist. We wandered up and down the high-street, read some plaques, bought some post-cards.
Then on to Queenstown; a noisy, vibrant and activity-rich town set on the banks of Lake Wakatipu. After the rugged beauty that we’ve experienced over the last week, Queenstown was a bit much to take in. While completely surrounded by a just ridiculously beautiful landscape, the actual town is a bit … meh (an exclamation signifying a lack of enthusiasm).
After lunch we cruised back, taking the long route back to Wanaka to stop off at some local beauty spots and more obligatory Lord of the Rings locations – many of which surround Queenstown.
I don’t want to imply we didn’t enjoy our day, far from it in fact, but we were very happy to return to the serene beauty of Wanaka at the end of the day.
The Obligatory Blog 