There is a moment, arriving into Queenstown on a clear morning, when the plane banks over Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables appear — a wall of jagged schist rising from the water's edge, snow-capped, impossibly dramatic — and you understand immediately why people come here once and never quite leave.
Queenstown is a small city — 15,000 people, give or take — built around a lake at the bottom of the world. It has no right to be this extraordinary. And yet here it is: the most beautiful small city on earth, with the best skiing in the Southern Hemisphere, the original commercial bungy jump, and a wine region — Central Otago — that produces Pinot Noir of genuine world-class distinction.
Gerald's Picks
- SkiThe Remarkables — Homeward Bound run at first light, before the lifts fill.
- BungyAJ Hackett Kawarau Bridge — the original. 43 metres. Non-negotiable.
- WineAmisfield Winery, Lake Hayes — their Pinot Noir is among the finest in the world.
- DinnerBotswana Butchery — dry-aged New Zealand beef, lakeside terrace, exceptional wine list.
- BarBardeaux — Queenstown's finest cocktail bar, tucked above the Earnslaw Precinct.
- MorningSunrise on the Frankton Track — Lake Wakatipu turns gold, the Remarkables turn pink.
The Remarkables
The Remarkables ski area sits directly above Queenstown, visible from almost every point in the town, and on a clear day the sight of them — sharp, snow-covered, catching the early light — is enough to make you cancel whatever you had planned and head for the gondola.
The skiing here is genuinely world-class. The Homeward Bound run is one of the great descents in Southern Hemisphere skiing — a long, wide, groomed cruise with the lake below and the town in the distance. Shadow Basin, for those who want something more serious, is steep, technical, and largely untracked on a powder day.
Coronet Peak, fifteen minutes from town, is the other option — older, more varied, with a night skiing programme that runs until 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays. The après ski at the base lodge is excellent. The view from the top is extraordinary.
The Original Bungy
In 1988, AJ Hackett and Henry van Asch opened the world's first commercial bungy jump from the Kawarau Bridge, 23 kilometres from Queenstown. The bridge spans a gorge above the Kawarau River. The drop is 43 metres. The water is turquoise. The whole thing is completely mad.
Thirty-eight years later, it is still operating. You can watch from a viewing platform — free, and worth doing even if you have no intention of jumping — or you can book a jump and experience what it feels like to fall 43 metres toward a glacial river while attached to a rubber cord.
The Nevis Bungy, further up the valley, is 134 metres. That one is for people who have something to prove. The Kawarau is for everyone else.
Central Otago Pinot Noir
The Central Otago wine region is the southernmost wine-producing region in the world, and it produces Pinot Noir of extraordinary quality. The combination of schist soils, extreme diurnal temperature variation, and long summer days creates wines of remarkable intensity and elegance.
Amisfield Winery, on the shores of Lake Hayes fifteen minutes from Queenstown, is the place to start. Their cellar door is beautiful — stone walls, lake views, a wood-fired kitchen — and their Pinot Noir is among the finest produced anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere. The Lowburn Ferry is another essential stop. Felton Road, in the Bannockburn sub-region, is the benchmark.
The wine trail through Gibbston Valley — the so-called Valley of the Vines — takes half a day and covers six or seven cellar doors. Hire a bike. Ride slowly. Stop often.
Lake Wakatipu
Lake Wakatipu is 80 kilometres long, shaped like a lightning bolt, and impossibly blue. It sits at 310 metres above sea level, surrounded by mountains on all sides, and it has a phenomenon — a seiche — where the water level rises and falls by 12 centimetres every five minutes due to changes in atmospheric pressure. The Māori say it is the heartbeat of a sleeping giant.
The TSS Earnslaw, a 1912 twin-screw coal-fired steamship, still runs regular cruises on the lake. It is one of the last operational passenger steamships in the Southern Hemisphere, and a journey on it — even just the 90-minute round trip to Walter Peak — is one of the great travel experiences in New Zealand.
The Frankton Track runs along the lake's edge for 7 kilometres from Queenstown to Frankton. Walk it at sunrise. The mountains turn pink, the water turns gold, and the town is still quiet.
Where to Eat
Botswana Butchery is the anchor. Lakeside terrace, dry-aged New Zealand beef, an exceptional wine list heavy on Central Otago Pinot Noir, and a room that manages to feel both grand and relaxed. Book the terrace table if you can.
Rata, from New Zealand chef Josh Emett, is the fine dining option — a converted stone building in the town centre, with a menu built around New Zealand produce and a wine list that is one of the best in the country.
Fergburger is the institution. Open until 5am, serving burgers of extraordinary size and quality to the après-ski crowd, the late-night crowd, and everyone in between. The queue is always long. It is always worth it.
Vudu Cafe & Larder for breakfast — the best flat white in Queenstown, excellent eggs, and a room that fills with morning light.
Queenstown is one of those places that defies easy description. It is an adventure capital, yes — but it is also a wine region, a fine dining destination, a place of extraordinary natural beauty. It is the kind of place you visit for a long weekend and find yourself extending, twice, before finally accepting that you have to leave.
The best days here start early — sunrise on the Frankton Track, first chair on the Remarkables, coffee at Vudu before the town wakes up. They end late — dinner at Botswana Butchery, a glass of Amisfield Pinot Noir, the lake black and still below the lights of the town. In between, there is more to do than any reasonable person could manage in a week.
That is the problem with Queenstown. And also the point.