Queenstown, Arrowtown, Cromwell and Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand

Sunday 12th to Wednesday 15th April 2026

We are continuing to make our way north, calling in at places of interest.

Queenstown:

On our journey towards Queenstown, there were a few nice views:

The city of Queenstown is a lovely city, alongside Lake Wakatipu, which is huge. It is obviously a place for people who enjoy high-octane sports and activities. There were many offers of skydiving, bungee jumping, zip-wire riding, jet-boating etc. We were not tempted, though I had to hold Alison back. Instead, she did a bit of shopping.

Arrowtown:

Arrowtown is a little north of Queenstown. The town is quite a nice place, but the main attraction is the town centre which is constructed in a Victorian or Edwardian style, with timber buildings and shop fronts.

Gold was apparently discovered near the river, this provoked a gold rush with prospectors from all over the world.

Although interesting, we found the town to be very busy. It seems to be a bit of a tourism magnet, so we didn’t stay long.

Cromwell:

We retraced our steps towards Queenstown, before heading towards Cromwell to continue our journey north. On the way, we came across an old suspension bridge, which has found a new use as the launching point over a gorge, for bungee jumping.

Further along the river, there are some old goldmining buildings:

In Cromwell, we visited the Heritage Precinct, which is an area of reconstructed/preserved buildings which are all being re-used by various businesses:

Wanaka:

There is no shortage of scenery in these parts. Inevitably we stopped to take photographs every so often:

On the way, we passed “Puzzling World”, which seemed to be an innovative play place for kids.

Wanaka is another lovely lakeside town.

I had heard that there is a famous tree at Wanaka, so we had a look around. Was this it?

…or this?

…no, here it is:

I could have sworn for a moment, that I was in Llanberis, North Wales, but for the fact that there was a bit of a scrum to get a photo here, due to the numbers of tourists arriving by coach. Sharp elbows required.

That is it for today. TTFN and see-u-later.