Queenstown
Shaped like a cartoon lightning bolt, Lake Wakatipu is NZ's third-largest lake. It reaches a depth of 372m, meaning the lake bed actually sits below sea鈥
Must-see attractions in Queenstown & Wanaka
Queenstown & Wanaka
Enter past the fence of bras (Bra-drona!) and you'll find the beautiful cellar door of this fledgling single-malt distillery inside a building made of鈥
Queenstown
Set on its own tongue of land framing Queenstown Bay, this pretty park is the perfect city escape right within the city. Laid out in 1876, it features an鈥
Queenstown
Hop aboard for fantastic views as the gondola squeezes through pine forest to its grandstand location 400m above Queenstown. At the top there's the鈥
Wanaka
W膩naka Station Park is a piece of W膩naka that existed before W膩naka did. This remnant of the sheep station that once covered the entire south side of the鈥
Queenstown & Wanaka
Strung along the creek, near the site of Arrowtown's first gold find, is NZ鈥檚 best example of an early Chinese settlement. Interpretive signs explain the鈥
National Transport & Toy Museum
Wanaka
Mixing Smurfs with Studebakers and skidoos (and an authentic MiG jet fighter flown by the Polish Air Force), this completely eclectic and absorbing鈥
Queenstown & Wanaka
The area's oldest commercial winery (established in the early 1980s) offers tours of the winery ($35) and NZ's largest wine cave ($20). It also has a鈥
Queenstown & Wanaka
With gold rushes came lawlessness. Arrowtown's prisoners were originally manacled to logs, but in 1876 this schist jail, now surrounded by homes, was鈥
Lakes District Museum & Gallery
Queenstown & Wanaka
Exhibits cover the gold-rush era and the early days of Chinese settlement around Arrowtown. Kids are kept engaged by the likes of an 'Odd One Out' game鈥
Queenstown
These 2 hectares are home to 10,000 native plants, geckos, skinks, tuatara (an endemic reptile) and scores of birds, including kiwi, kea (alpine parrots),鈥
Wanaka
It's worth raising a glass to the view alone at Rippon since the Tuscan-styled cellar door has surely the finest winery view in NZ. In a bid to contain鈥
Queenstown
Peregrine by name, peregrine by design鈥he award-winning construction of the cellar door, shaped a bit like a falcon's wing in flight, looks particularly鈥
Wanaka
A 3D Great Maze and lots of fascinating brain-bending visual illusions serve to keep people of all ages bemused, bothered and bewildered at this鈥
Queenstown & Wanaka
The most picturesque of the Gibbston wineries, Chard Farm's rustic cellar door is reached by a precipitous 2km road overlooking the Kawarau Bridge Bungy鈥
Queenstown
This pretty Anglican church, built in 1932 from local greywacke stone, has colourful stained glass and an impressive gilded and painted organ. Take a look鈥
Queenstown & Wanaka
Apart from its impressive Star of David鈥搒haped rose window, this 1874 stone Gothic Revival church, built from local schist rock, wouldn't be worth noting鈥
Wanaka
Push past the Barbies to get to the beer 鈥 the tasting room for the Wanaka Beerworks is rather incongruously at the rear of the toy museum gift shop. Get鈥
Queenstown
Located in the old underwater observatory beneath the main pier, this 30-minute experience promises a journey back in time, explaining Lake Wakatipu's鈥
Queenstown & Wanaka
Covering much of the Pisa Range, this conservation reserve has several walking trails through the tussock grass. To get the full show, the 19km tramp to鈥
Queenstown & Wanaka
Producers of one of the region's most acclaimed pinot noirs; its cellar door is in the front yard of the rustic Gibbston Tavern.
