Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of the world with speed boats, helicopter rides, and cruises in various types of boats. There are all kinds of restaurants and retail shops in this small town of just a few blocks as well as a beach and a marina.
The area was discovered and first settled by Māori who called it Tāhuna, which means "shallow bay". European explorers William Gilbert Rees and Nicholas von Tunzelmann came here to settle the area. Rees established a high country farm in the current town center in 1860, but the discovery of gold in the Arrow River in 1862 encouraged him to convert his wool shed into a hotel named the Queen's Arms. It is now known as Eichardt's.
Many Queenstown streets bear names from the gold mining era (such
as Camp Street) and some buildings remain and lie close together in a designated historic precinct.
There are various accounts of how Queenstown gained its name, of which the following appears to be the most likely:
"When William Rees first arrived in the area and built his homestead, the area was known as The Station although miners soon referred to it as The Camp from 1860 to 1862. The miners, and especially the Irish, had taken an interest in the ceremony held for a town called Cobh in Ireland (then part of the United Kingdom) which was renamed Queenstown in honour of Queen Victoria in 1850.
In January 1863, the town was officially given the name of Queenstown.
The mountains overlooking the bay are called The Remarkables and they provide a dramatic view of the Queenstown area. The beach is part of the actual city.
Queenstown
is quite a lively city with restaurants, shops, meeting places for
adventure tours. Many 19th century buildings make for a different
kind of resort experience. The white hotel called Eichardt's used to be a wool shed until gold was found.
The water taxi shuttled us between our hotel.
The line was too long to order our carry-out, but it went rather quickly. Because the sun can get hot, the restaurant provides umbrellas for those waiting.
The
food on this trip has been fatty, greasy, and heavy. Even so, I've been
unable to resist it. At times, like tonight, I couldn't eat
another thing. For dinner at Queenstown, we stopped at Ferburgers but had no more room in my
stomach after a lunch of pork belly sandwiches and potatoes at the winery. I
did decide to buy the frites, which were
delicious, and a Coke to try to fizz down all the grease I had eaten on
this day. Despite all the walking we've done, I gained 4 kilos on this trip.
That's 9 pounds in 4 weeks! Just too much heavy food, snacks, a lack
of salads
and vegetables, and too much pasta in Melbourne. I was just unable to control myself!
Gerri and Terri (behind the driver) went on a speed boat tour on the lakes and loved it immensely--especially Gerri.
One of the activities we pursued in Queenstown was a day-long trip to Milford Sound. For details on that trip, click here to see my blog on it.
Our
last night in New Zealand called for an extravagant meal of four
courses with each course offering several choices. Unfortunately, I was
too busy eating and only took a photo of this old poster.
We had 3 appetizers, 3 main dishes, 3 side dishes, and 2 desserts. It took us two hours to eat all of this food. I was moderate in my eating--until we hit the desserts. Then, I felt over-stuffed. I settled into the night trying to get all the food digested before I went to bed.
Our hotel rooms in Queenstown were fabulous with separate rooms for every function. And we stayed there for three nights! Actually, I appreciated our hotels in both New Zealand and Australia, but this one was the best with all the amenities--and a huge bed with lots of pillows for snuggling
Queenstown was the last stop of our three-week tour. We fly back to Sydney where we will spend one night before we make our way home. I surprised myself by looking forward to getting back to France and hearing French language again. France has become quite ingrained in me--and I'm happy for that.
A
taxi will pick us up at 1 pm to take us to the airport. Our plane leaves for Sydney at 3:25 pm. While we were waiting in the hotel lobby, I had one last conversation with one of my fellow travelers about single and divorced women being the most liberated because they chose to be
single rather than allow circumstances to choose their lifestyles for them. It was a confirming conversation.
Once we arrived in Sydney and checked into our hotel, the few of us who were left had dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was a nice way to say good-bye.
Resources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queenstown,_New_Zealand
No comments:
Post a Comment