Queenstown holds about 16,000 residents on the shore of Lake Wakatipu, the third largest lake in New Zealand and the one shaped like a lightning bolt. The town centre is four minutes from our door on foot, and the airport at Frankton is twelve minutes by road.
The lake sits at 310 m above sea level and is 380 m deep in the middle, which is why it never freezes and never warms up either. The water rises and falls about twelve centimetres roughly every twenty-seven minutes, a standing wave that runs the length of the lake and has been measured since the 1870s.
The concierge desk books boats, buses, tickets and tables. It does not sell adventure packages and takes no commission on what it books for you. If the forecast will keep a boat at the wharf, you are told before you pay.
| Queenstown Gardens, main gate | 220 m | Three minutes on the waterfront path. The frisbee golf course is inside the gate on the left. |
|---|---|---|
| Shotover Street and the mall | 300 m | Four minutes. Supermarket, pharmacy and the bus hub are all on the same block. |
| Steamer Wharf and the TSS Earnslaw | 400 m | Five minutes along Marine Parade. The 1912 steamer sails four times a day in summer. |
| Skyline Gondola, Brecon Street | 850 m | Eleven minutes on foot, uphill for the last two. |
| Queenstown Airport, Frankton | 8.4 km | Twelve minutes by road. We meet scheduled arrivals with a car if you book it 24 hours ahead. |
| Coronet Peak | 18 km | Twenty-five minutes. The ski shuttle stops outside the hotel from June to October. |
| Arrowtown | 21 km | Twenty-two minutes on Gorge Road, or ninety minutes by bike on the trail. |
| Gibbston Valley cellar doors | 24 km | Twenty-five minutes east through the Kawarau Gorge. |
| The Remarkables ski area | 28 km | Forty-five minutes, thirteen of them on the access road. |
| Glenorchy | 46 km | Forty-five minutes along the lake. Closeburn and Bob’s Cove are on the way. |
| Milford Sound | 288 km | Four hours each way. Day coaches leave from the Athol Street stop at 7am. |
Winter, June to October
- Coronet Peak. Twenty-five minutes. Night skiing on Friday and Saturday until 9pm. The shuttle stops outside the hotel.
- The Remarkables. Forty-five minutes, thirteen of them on the access road, which needs chains on some mornings.
- Cardrona and Treble Cone. An hour and a quarter over the Crown Range, longer when the road is icy.
- Rental and storage. Two shops on Shotover Street fit boots until 8pm. Skis, boards and bikes are racked and locked downstairs.
Summer, November to April
- The Queenstown Trail. 130 km of it, and the nearest entrance is 400 m from the door at the gardens.
- Gibbston Valley. Twenty-five minutes. Cellar doors open 10am to 5pm; most take walk-ins outside February and March.
- Glenorchy and Paradise. Forty-five minutes along the lake, and the drive is the reason to go.
- Milford Sound. Four hours each way. Worth two days if you have them, and a long day if you do not.
- Queenstown Gardens. Three minutes. A peninsula of large trees with a frisbee golf course, a bowling green and a path around the outside that takes half an hour.
- Steamer Wharf. Five minutes. The TSS Earnslaw has been sailing since 1912 and still burns coal; four sailings a day in summer, two in winter.
- Skyline Gondola. Eleven minutes, the last two uphill. Runs from 9am, and the queue is shortest before ten.
- Queenstown Hill. A ninety-minute walk from the door, up and back, with about 500 m of climb in it.
- The town centre. Four minutes. Supermarket, pharmacy, bus hub and about forty places to eat.
