Charles Town Chatter: Queenstown, NZ

Queenstown, New Zealand

All too soon it was time to head for Queenstown, which is in the southern part of the south island. It is a lovely little city right on Lake Wakatipu which is surrounded by alpine mountains that soar up from the edges of the lake. It is all quite dramatic and the city is filled with backpackers, hikers, and young folks in search of adventure, and believe me there is a lot of that to be had here. They are famous for their daredevil boat rides that go though canyons at very high speeds. There is also lots of bungee jumping; skydiving, rock climbing, paragliding and other outdoor activities that had us exhausted just reading about them. We contented ourselves with long walks, especially in and around the Queenstown Gardens, which have to be one of the most beautifully landscaped gardens we have ever seen.

We took many long walks around the gardens and talked with the groundskeeper that was only too happy to tell us everything we wanted to know about the gardens. The local giant crocuses were blooming and we could see the large stamens that when harvested and dried become saffron, ounce for ounce the world’s most expensive spice. There are enormous redwoods, Douglas firs, Spanish chestnut and oak trees that have all been transported from the States and Europe to make the garden unique in New Zealand. After our morning run/walk through the garden we always headed to a little French bistro for fantastic coffee and the very best croissant in the world. This was a piece of sheer beauty: dense, flaky and filled with buttery delight. It was not your typical light as a feather confection but rather a substantial pastry that begged to be shared. It even had the dark brown stains on the paper napkin that indicated freshness, just like in Lake Woebegone.

One day we took a gondola to the top of Queenstown and had spectacular views of the entire alpine lake and its many rivers and valleys. We hiked around the top of the mountain and watched a few paragliders jumping off the mountain and soaring for long periods of time. After a few hours we returned to town and had a wonderful lunch at a little fish and chips joint. We ordered our fish pan-seared so we didn’t have the complete experience, but the pineapple fritter more than made up for our efforts to lighten the deep fried experience.

We went to a restaurant on Steamer Wharf called Pier 19 and had the absolute best meal - outside of Colin’s cooking - in New Zealand. We didn’t have high expectations since most of the meals here have been expensive and mediocre. This however proved that you could have a view and still produce some great food. We started with a shared order of bruschetta, which was a lovely tray of five small toasted slices of baguette topped with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and red onion, which was drizzled with reduced balsamic and was heavenly. Cindy then had a fresh hunk of salmon that was baked with a miso reduction and served with smashed potatoes and a salad of fennel, citrus and olives. I had my annual shot at pork and ordered loin chops grilled served with mustard applesauce and a fresh variation on Waldorf salad: beet leaves, apple, celery, grapes, sweet walnuts and an über light vinaigrette. Everything went well with the comparatively inexpensive local Sav Blanc. Truly a delightful meal by every standard.

There is an old twin-screw steamship that was built in 1912 and is still plying the waters of the lake. It is very large and could hold 1050 people before there were rules regulating loads. It is a very elegant vessel in every detail except for the fact that it is still powered by soft brown coal, which is just the most foul smelling thing you can imagine. It broke our hearts to see this thing belching thick black smoke out of the stack as it pulled away from the dock. You could see this filth for miles and miles, which seemed so weird to us since New Zealand works so hard at being pure and clean. I guess if you are an enthusiast it is a chance to relive the past, but we think they should swap out the old engine for something much cleaner.

The time slipped away from us as usual and our three days disappeared. Our flight back to Wellington was stunning. Since it was a prop plane we stayed at about sixteen thousand feet, which meant we could see all of the magnificent alpine lakes, mountains and river valleys that form the spine of the South Island. Any of you who have seen the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings would recognize these views since this is where they were filmed. We were even able to see Mt. Cook, which is usually shrouded in clouds. Literally a picture perfect flight, which we enjoyed immensely.