Living the high life in Qtown

4 April 2009 Kia Ora! Queenstown is the queen of New Zealand's tourist industry. We have been here before but ignored the usual tourist attractions in favor of a wine tour and visit to a historical Chinese village limited restoration in Arrowtown, returning by way of the market orchards around Cromwell. You will find that story on a previous post. Now I want to be a tourist in Queenstown, so this is the weekend to indulge me, if not us. We are booked at the Novotel, teeming with busloads of tourists from America, Japan, Holland, Germany and who knows where else. I got in on an Internet special and then, bonus!, we are upgraded to a garden room. The Novotel is on Marine Parade, a boulevard right at the water front, and we can walk to The Mall, restaurants, and more. We choose highly reviewed restaurants for our meals (The Bunker, Pier 19, and Wai, which is Oh-My-Gawd! good). The Skyline Restaurant at the top of the peak overlooking Queenstown is closed Saturday, so that is saved until Sunday. For a buffet, it is surprisingly good also. So other than food, the big Saturday event is a trip across Lake Wakatipu in a vintage steamship, TSS Earnslaw. There is talk of closing this attraction because of the pollution from the coal-fired engine. I don't know; what do you think? We watched the coal being loaded into the hold and then viewed the engine room and the crew hand shoveling it into the engines. Some people wondered who was the Captain of this ship anyway! The ship is quite elegant and features a piano player and sing-a-long on the return trip. Alas, only the piano player seems to be singing. Some passengers debarked across the lake at Walter Peak Station to tour the compound of a former sheep station and watch demonstrations of dogs herding sheep and sheep shearing. Having just had an up-close-and-personal-tour of the McIntosh sheep farm, we passed on that option. Back at the quay, we shop an artist's flea market and wander out on a jetty. Here is the winning New Zealand ship from America's Cup, of which the Kiwis are justifiably proud. Tourists can get in on the thrill for a price and book a sail on the vessel. We wander on up to Shotover Street. I spy the AJHackett Bungy storefront. Hackett is the owner of several bungy jumps around Qtown. Are there jumps with a harness instead of ankle wraps, is my query. Then, eyeing my wrinkles and gray hair, he says: Good on you! You can make that jump. Yeah, right! Then we drive out to Glenorchy, a tiny hamlet at the other end of the lake. It is halfway to the trailhead of the Greenstone Track, the 4-day backpacking adventure we took on a long-ago trip to NZ. In the village, we share Devonshire tea and pleasant memories of a time when we could still do a mountain tramp. Saturday is the tame day. Just wait until I tell you about Sunday! Cheers, Kiwi Traveler