Queenstown - Impossible Not To Like

Ah, Queenstown. Nestled at the end of Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by the Remarkable Mountain Range. One can safely say that it is the action capital of the world and the best playground for adults. There is not much that you cannot do here, from Skydiving, Bungee Jumping, Canyon Swings, Mountain Biking, Quad tours, Hiking, Jetboating through a narrow canyon, all sorts of water activities, and so on...

As this was my last stop on the Kiwi Experience bus, it was a good time to go and have a farewell pub crawl with the group and the driver once we arrived. It got a bit wild at the end (we ended at a Silent Disco), but was very fun.

The following day, I recovered from the previous night and then just explored the beautiful town, soaked up its atmosphere and did a little bit of shopping (hats and gloves as I was going into the mountains).

The next day, I decided to start my hiking frenzy that would unfold over the following 3 weeks (more on that as I go). The first hike was pretty easy and I walked up Queenstown Hill, which was a nice 5k walk (400m elevation gain) and took me less than 2h - excluding an extended break at the top for photos, food, etc. The view of the snow-capped mountains in the distance and the wide Lake Wakatipu on the other side was beautiful.

On the summit, I met Tatiana from Colombia, as she was also doing a little photo session. We immediately got along and decided to hike up Ben Lomond together tomorrow. I ended the day with going to the best burger place in town and probably in all of New Zealand - Fergburger. Just so delicious, I ended up going there 3x times in 6 days.

Ben Lomond is the toughest hike in Queenstown. From the town to the summit, it is a 11km return track that takes 6-8h with an elevation gain of 1438m. So obviously, we wanted a clear day to have the best views for it. It was very cloudy in the morning and Tatiana and I decided to have a little stroll along the lake first and see if it cleared up. And it did.

So we started our hike around 11.30am and arrived at the top at around 3.15pm. It wasn't a technical hike, but the length and the elevation gain made it exhausting - we first hiked through forest and then above the tree line with views of Ben Lomond basically since 1pm.

The last bit from the saddle to the summit was the most strenuous and steepest, but once we arrived at the top, we were rewarded with absolutely stunning views over the entire area.

It was 100% worth the hike and we had sun and blue skies pretty much the entire way.
Of course, we had to celebrate the achievement, so we went to Fergburger and then had a couple of drinks - a friend, Chris, from the Kiwi Experience also joined in. The drink was Mulled Wine - a strange thing to have in May, but since it was freezing (0-4 degrees), it was definitely appropriate!

On my last day in Queenstown, I picked up my rental car that I would have for the next 2.5 weeks, picked up Tatiana and Chris and we drove an hour to Glenorchy, which is a beautiful town (more like a small collection of houses) on the other side of Lake Wakatipu with the mountains in the background. We wondered around the small town, took a little scenic walk, had lunch at a Chinese restaurant and did a little detour to see the movie location of Isengard that featured as Saruman's tower in The Lord Of The Rings. It was a nice and relaxing day. In the evening, we went out for drinks and a little live music to cheers farewell.

Queenstown really is a lovely place and I feel it is impossible not to like it. Its activities, surrounding nature, lively atmosphere and location right by the lake make it a picture-perfect town. I will definitely come back again!Read more