Another nakedbus trip took me from Lake Wanaka to Queenstown. Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of New Zealand,, theres really not much you can’t do here. You can do bungee jumping, skydiving, canyon swinging, rafting, jetboating, the list goes on and on. The town itself has become a hub for tourists and virtually all shops are either cafes, bars, tourist information offices, ticket agents or shops selling outdoor clothing for those activies mentioned

Its a nice town though, clean, vibrant, plenty of things to do and surprise surprise, next to a lake !! Queenstown is another town built next to a lake on the side of some hills. Like most lakes in New Zealand they are created by huge  glacier shifts, a glacier moves through a valley taking everything with it, trees, shrubs, top soil, everything. Nothing is left behind and thats why it takes hundreds of years for any real  vegetataion to grow, very often trees and plants are only growing in a few centimeters of soil. The lake in Queenstown is around  300-400 meters deep making it the second deepest lake in New Zealand.

Being a sailor I can’t miss the oppourtunity of looking at a boat. This boat was once owned by Sir Winston Churchill, apparantly some war cabinet meetings were held aboard. It is now moored on the lake as an attraction.

Fortunately as I was watching my budget I realised I didn’t have quite enough money to go Skydiving so it was time to leave Queenstown.

Queenstown Verdict – busy tourist town, place to go so you can throw yourself out of a plane, jump of bridges attached to an elastic band, swing through canyons whilst tied to a seat, everythings seems to be possible. Not too much for the older traveller or for any history buffs.

Wanaka is situated at the end of Lake Wanaka in the Otago of the South Island, and is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. It is basically a resort town catering for hikers in the summer months and snow thrill seekers in the winter months. Situated by the lakes edge its a beautiful setting with the nearby mountains always in the background.

Its quite a modern town due to the fact its always growing in size because of increasing tourism and increased numbers of people retiring there.

Whilst I was enjoying my stay there I got up one morning to see that snow had settled on the mountain tops. An unusual cold spell had come in overnight and the temperature had dropped to near freezing. As it was only the first month of autumn it even caught the Kiwis out. Made for a lovely setting and enjoying hot coffees by the lakes edge.