Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Lookout Tahoe! Hear Comes Queenstown!

I kid, I kid.  While the two resort cities may have a lot in common, they couldn't be more different from each other in terms of atmosphere.  Where Tahoe is a quiet respite from the civilized world, Queenstown is all about getting excited.  Queenstown is pegged as THE place to go in New Zealand for an international traveler, and now having been there myself I can say that I mostly agree.  Located on the precipitous shores of the ethereal blue glacially carved lightning bolt of Lake Wakatipu, it's feels more like the scene of a movie that is too good to be true.  A photo of it would probably have you mistaking it for some fairy tale town in Switzerland, but I have seen it, and I can assure you it is real and it is New Zealand.

The drive into Queenstown from Invercargill began in bland flat farmland and gradually became more impressive and more mountainous, culminating in its joining up with the southern end of Lake Wakatipu and riding the shore up to Queenstown itself.  Queenstown really punches above its weight when it comes to atmosphere and the whole town has a flashy youthful buzz which is ever so delicately balanced by the calming peaceful effect that its setting has on you.  We arrived hungry and after chowing down at the famous FergBurger we just wandered through the streets of the little town.  The following day we drove up into the aptly named Remarkables mountain range via the unsealed and windy ski road.  The views were…dare I say, remarkable.  Mwahaha.  Once we reached the end of the road at the ski village we did a noteworthy walk up the ski field beneath the Shadow Basin chairlift to an absolutely incredible vista!  It was a fabulous first impression of Queenstown.






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