After a few days of nomadic travel, we finally reached our last stop on South Island - Queenstown. For the adventurous, there's a lot of activities that will get your adrenaline pumping. For the families dragging their little kids along, Queenstown makes a good base for you to travel out to places like Walter Peak, Arrowtown and the beautiful Milford Sound! There's also lots to see and do in Queenstown City!
As we travel through South Island, we didn't have to pay for parking most of the time. However, free or cheap parking is very limited in Queenstown. Not impossible to find though. Our first stop was the TSS Earnslaw cruise to Walter Peak. Wilson parking at Church Street is probably one of the nearest carparks near the Queenstown Waterfront. We reached before 10am so we were charged early bird rate of $10. Thinking that it's not too expensive, we parked there again in the evening for about 2 - 3 hours and it costed the same price or more!
After walking around the city centre for a few days, we realised that it's actually not that far to walk from one end of the city centre to the other. If you are on a budget you can try to park at the free carpark below.
Since we were very early (as we couldn't wait to get out of Wanaka Hotel, haha!!), we stopped by Patagonia's Ice Creamery & Chocolaterie for breakfast. It was also Miss Ting's birthday so we wanted to get her a cake.
Hot chocolate
Warm croissants with butter and jams - It was really yummy (probably because it was loaded with butter), so I bought a few more back for breakfast the next day.
It was Miss Ting's birthday so daddy let her chose the dessert she wanted. The reason for choosing this - the strawberry! Guess who ate most of the dessert?
They sell a wide variety of chocolates as well. Looks really yummy but somehow we weren't in a mood for chocolates so we didn't buy any.
Queenstown city centre is very vibrant - lots of restaurants, cafes and shops!
The street art makes good photos as well
One of the highlights of the trip was the TSS Earnslaw Cruise and Walter Peak Farm tour. Read more on it here!
We checked in at our airbnb in Lake Hayes Estate (about 20mins from Queenstown City Centre) after the tour. That was the best airbnb we have stayed in! The one we rented is actually the extension of the owner's house, so there may be chance that you will be staying beside fellow travellers. The place looked really simple (to the point that I was worried there's nothing) on airbnb, but I really liked the deco of the interiors! Very well-equipped as well - kitchenette (no stove), washer and dryer, etc. We especially loved the toilet with the heater! It's always so cold when you exit from the shower, but not there!!
Since it was Xmas, the hosts were also really nice to give us a bottle of champagne!
After settling down at the airbnb and getting our laundry done, we headed out again for dinner at Blue Kanu. When I was researching I found many restaurants in the city, but Blue Kanu had really good reviews. Well, the food was nice but not as memorable as I expected. Do make a reservation during peak travel periods!
Salmon Poke
BBQ Pork Belly with Spam Fries and Crackling
Beautiful view from the top!
Really really beautiful view of Queenstown
The squid was sooooo good! Even Mr Ting who is not a squid lover had only praises for it!
The next day we visited Arrowtown in the morning, and the Queenstown Skyline and Luge in the afternoon! We had pre-purchased the tickets for the Skyline and Luge, and were really lucky because the rain stopped in the afternoon! I've never been on a gondola this steep!
We bought 5 luge rides, and ended up taking it 3 times only. The queue was too long and we were done after the 3rd time. Miss Ting rode it quite well with daddy and me. That's Mr and Miss Ting in the background since the lift only allows 2 persons.
Dinner was takeaway from Pedro's House of Lamb. There's only 1 menu available and a few sides. One lamb leg was just right for 2 of us!
Lamb leg with potatoes. I ordered an additional bread as a side, but you don't really need it. I think the lamb and potatoes were enough for 2 of us.
This was dinner the next day as the queue at Fergburger was crazy! I think there were about 50 to 70 people in the queue, and the waiting time was about 2 hours! Since I didn't make any reservations, Tanoshi was also full house. We had dinner at Captain's Restaurant and it was a good find!
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