Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown
Queenstown
Coordinates:
Country	New Zealand
Region	Otago
Territorial authority	Queenstown Lakes District
Area
- District	8,704.97 km2 (3,361 sq mi)
Population (2006 Census)
- Urban	10,416
- District	22,956
Time zone	NZST (UTC+12)
- Summer (DST)	NZDT (UTC+13)
Postcode(s)	9300
Area code(s)	03

Queenstown Mall, New Zealand

Queenstown is an international resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin lake formed by glacial processes that is shaped like a staggered lightning bolt, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains.

William Gilbert Rees, along with fellow explorer Nicholas Von Tunzelman, were the first Europeans to settle the area. Rees was in search of pastoral land, and after an initial visit returned in 1860 to establish a high country farm in the location of Queenstown's current town centre. However the Rees’ farming lifestyle was to be short-lived. In 1862 gold was discovered in the Arrow River, a short distance from Queenstown.

There are various apocryphal accounts of how the town was named, the most popular suggesting that a local gold digger exclaimed that the town was "fit for Queen Victoria". It is now known for its commerce-oriented tourism, especially adventure and ski tourism. It is popular with young international and New Zealand travellers alike.

The town is the largest centre in Central Otago, and the third largest in Otago. According to the 2006 census, the usually resident population of the Queenstown urban area (including Frankton and Kelvin Heights) is 10,416^[1], an increase of 22.1% since 2001.

Its neighbouring towns include Arrowtown, Wanaka, Alexandra, and Cromwell. The nearest cities are Dunedin and Invercargill.

The Queenstown-Lakes District has a land area of 8,704.97 km² (3,361.01 sq mi) not counting its inland lakes (Lake Hawea, Lake Wakatipu, and Lake Wanaka). It has an estimated resident population of 27,800 (June 2010 estimate).^[2]

Tourism

Queenstown and the Remarkable Mountains

the Ledge Bungy

A resort town, Queenstown is a centre for adventure tourism. Skiing, jet boating, whitewater rafting, bungy jumping, mountain biking, skateboarding, tramping and fly fishing are all strong promotional themes.

Queenstown is a major centre for snow sports in New Zealand, with people from all over the country and many parts of the world travelling to ski at the four main mountain skifields (Cardrona Alpine Resort, Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and Treble Cone). Cross country skiing is also available at the Waiorau Snow Farm, located near the village of Cardrona.

A coal fired steamship that is nearly 100 years old, called the TSS Earnslaw, provides tourist trips on the lake.

In recent years, Queenstown's hostels have become a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. Queenstown provides adventure tourism during the day and a vibrant nightlife scene during the evenings.

Locally, Queenstown has a reputation as one of New Zealand's wine and cuisine centres. Neighbouring, historic Arrowtown also features excellent restaurants and bars, and Queenstown lies close to the centre of a small wine producing region, reputed to be the world's southernmost. Pinot noir produced in this area fetches premium prices.

Queenstown also now hosts an annual International Jazz Festival [1]. Recent international performers include Anika Moa and Di Bird.

Queenstown also has a reputation for being the 'Adventure Capital of the World'.^[3]

Queenstown Airport has scheduled flights to Auckland, Christchurch and Sydney year-round and Wellington, Melbourne and Brisbane seasonally.

Major motion pictures

Queenstown and the surrounding area contains many locations used in the filming of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy as well as the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Queenstown was used to film most of the 1988 film The Rescue.

Queenstown was the base for filming the George Lucas 1988 fantasy film Willow.

Filming of the 1981 film Race for the Yankee Zeyphr took place in and around Queenstown, the first major motion picture production for the area.

Highlights

• Lake Wakatipu - on the Edwardian Steam Ship TSS Earnslaw
• Adventure tourism, jetboats, bungy jump, skiing, river surfing, canyon swing, aerobatic flights, sky diving, mountain biking, paragliding
• Ben Lomond - a 1,748 m (5,735 ft) mountain whose summit is accessible with a few hours easy climbing giving magnificent views over Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding area
• A round of golf at Millbrook Resort - 150-year-old wheat farm, now a luxury resort.
• Cricket (new One Day International venue) and Golf
• Queenstown Airport at Frankton
• Skyline Gondola and luge
• Queenstown Winter Festival
• Goldmining, Arrowtown, Central Otago history, sheep farming and Walter Peak station.
• Southern Lakes District & Milford Road, Milford Sound / Homer Tunnel, the Fiordland Lakes / Doubtful Sound
• Film locations of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy
• Glenorchy & Routeburn track

Panorama of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu from the top of the gondola.

Climate

Queenstown has an alpine climate with winters that have clear blue skies and snow capped mountains. Summer has long warm days with temperatures that can reach 30°C (2007/2008).

Transport

Queenstown is accessible by road and air but not by rail.

As a resort centre, there are many bus services that operate into Queenstown, with most being for package tours, but daily services for the local or itinerant are available to and from Invercargill, Dunedin and Christchurch, which are the main cities closest to Queenstown.

Queenstown has an international airport with flights from Australia by Air New Zealand and Qantas and in particular, from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney (the frequency is much increased over the ski season). Domestic flights operate from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Due to sustained growth, expansion of the airport terminal was undertaken in 2005 and 2006, with more construction currently ongoing.

Queenstown Airport is New Zealand's busiest helicopter base, and is also heavily used for tourist 'flightseeing', especially to Milford Sound and Mount Cook, using both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.

The primary road access to the Queenstown area is via State Highway 6 (SH6), which travels from Cromwell through the Kawarau Gorge to Frankton, where a 9 km spur (SH6A) leads to the CBD and connects with the Glenorchy Road. SH6 continues south, crossing the Kawarau river before heading down the eastern side of Lake Wakatipu to Kingston before crossing the provincial boundary and emerging on the plains of Southland. A difficult road over the Crown Range leads to Cardrona skifield and Wanaka, and is New Zealand's highest paved public road.

Queenstown is the departure point for a large number of day trips to the similarly famous Milford Sound, which entails a return trip of approximately 12 hours. There are scenic flights available to Milford Sound. A return flight, including a two-hour Mitre Peak Cruise, is approximately four hours.

See also:Transport to Milford Sound

Sister cities

• Masuda, Shimane, Japan
• Aspen, Colorado, United States

Panorama of the view from the Remarkables towards Queenstown Airport, with Queenstown beyond.

References

• Reed, A. W. (2002). The Reed Dictionary of New Zealand Place Names. Auckland: Reed Books. ISBN 0-7900-0761-4. 

External links

• Queenstown Lakes District Council
• Queenstown Tourism official site
• Chamber of Commerce
• Queenstown Airport official site
• Queenstown at the Open Directory Project