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. There is not much that you cannot do here, from Skydiving, Bungee Jumping, Canyon Swings, Mountain Biking, Quad tours, Hiking, Jetboating, all sorts of water activities, and so on...

This was my last stop on the Kiwi Experience bus and we all had a rather wild but fun farewell pub crawl.

The next day, I decided to start my hiking frenzy that would unfold over the following 3 weeks. The first hike was easy as I walked up Queenstown Hill, which was a nice 5k walk (400m elevation gain). 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. 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. 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. 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 and 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 and Tatiana/Chris and we drove an hour to Glenorchy, which is a beautiful tiny town with the mountains in the background. We wandered around, took a scenic walk, 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. 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