Queenstown, South Island

Well our Scenic suite is up on the top floor with beautiful views over the lake and completely surrounded by snow capped mountains. As we are a little higher above the sea, the air is definitely cooler - it said 3 degrees this morning first thing! Everything is so clear and the colours are sharper. Again we had washing to do but sensibly, got most of it done the night before and during breakfast. We had a wander around this morning, collected our tickets for the evening steam boat / farmland and meal tour, bought a new camera for Trevor (will claim on insurance for the dropped one) and had a lovely coffee and cake at a lake front cafe - we keep bumping in to ex-pats, the camera guy was originally from the IOW and the cafe waitress on a 2 yr travel visa from England as well. Everybody here is so friendly and helpful, nothing is too much trouble and they are always interested in where you come from, what you're doing now and what you plan to do - family & country - always very genuine!
In the evening we headed out onto Lake Wakatipu in the Lady of the Lake, the twin screw Steamer TSS Earnslaw. She is the last remaining commercial passenger carrying, coal-fired steamship in the southern hemisphere. She is owned by Real Journeys and now shuttles customers from Queenstown to Walter Peak homestead, originally owned by the Mackenzie family. After a fire in 1977, the homestead was carefully reconstructed. Real Journeys embarked on a major conservation project to return the land around the homestead back to native plants and removing invasive non-native plants. We enjoyed an evening BBQ buffet at the homestead - the food was amazing, a great spread for the money. The evening finished with a farm show, where a local lass put two dogs to work bringing in sheep and talked about the types of dog they use; she also described the work done on the farm, which includes the Colonal's Homestead in its grounds, talked about the sheep and cattle raised there and what they are used for and finally showed us how to shear a sheep. It was a great evening and the service was impeccable as it always is in most hotels, restaurants, Cafes etc. in this country. We finished by heading back across the star strewn lake, with a sing song on the boat going home, as the lights of Queenstown came into view.Read more