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     HOME AT FIRST'S

New Zealand

QUEENSTOWN REGION

PEOPLE COME TO QUEENSTOWN TO ENCOUNTER CHALLENGE, DARE FATE, ACCEPT RISK, AND TEST LIMITS
IN AN IMPROBABLY BEAUTIFUL ENVIRONMENT THAT IS CHALLENGING, DARING, RISKY, AND LIMITLESS.
PHOTO CREDITS: home at first (wakatipu/steamboat/milford sound/steam train); NZ tourism (GOLF/JET BOAT/BUNGY);
miles holden (HORSE TREK); chris mclennan (ALPINE PHOTOGrapher).
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–Experience Queenstown & its Remarkable Region–

Vibrant, trendy, wonderfully walkable large town in a fabulous
setting wedged between a stunning, turquoise lake and rugged,
photogenic mountains. Queenstown is New Zealand's outdoor
adventure capital: home of extreme and not-so-extreme sport.
-

Attractions in/from Queenstown: More than any other population center on the South Island, Queenstown exists for tourism. Expect lots of visitors, and expect an ever-expanding infrastructure with new things to see and do. The original home of bungy jumping has spawned an extreme sport industry second to none. But while Queenstown tantalizes the most serious adrenaline junkie, it offers much more than extreme adventure. Here's a partial listing of local activities:
• EXPLORING QUEENSTOWN ON FOOT: Downtown
   Queenstown is big enough to provide hundreds

Queenstown: tucked between mountains
and clean, turquoise Lake Wakatipu.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST

   of shops, restaurants, and other services, and
   small enough to be walked easily. Its lakeside park has a beach & a commercial pier.

            Visitors to Queenstown not planning to
travel onwards to the Fiordland Region can
take day trips to Milford Sound: using their
own rental car, going with a tour group by bus
from Queenstown, or by flight-seeing aircraft
from Queenstown. At Milford Sound frequent
boat departures let visitors experience this
unique environment close up.

Photo © HOME AT FIRST

• OUTDOOR ADVENTURES AND EXTREME SPORTS:
   Operators of all manner of regional activities
   have storefront booking offices in downtown
   Queenstown. Sign up for your adventure and
   join the group for the bus/van ride to the
   activity location. Organized commercial
   activities include:
   • BUNGY JUMPING & AERIAL SWINGING: more than a
       half-dozen heart-stopping leaps to choose from.
   • DAY HIKES: The Routeburn Track, others.
   • FLIGHTS & BUS TOURS TO MILFORD SOUND
   • HORSE TREKKING
   • JET BOATING: Shotover Jet, Dart River Jet.
   • CYCLING: Mountain Biking & touring; day & multi-day
       trips, like the Otago Central Rail Trail.
   • MULTIPLE DAY WALKING (TREKKING): Milford Track,
       Routeburn Track, Hollyford Track & others.
   • PARASAILING: Suspended from a parachute

       tethered to a boat on Lake Wakatipu. From Queens-
       stown pier.

• RESTAURANTS, BARS, & NIGHT LIFE: Downtown
   Queenstown offers restaurants and night life
   for every age, taste, and budget.

• RIDE THE SKYLINE GONDOLA: Take the enclosed
   cable car that rises steeply from Queenstown
   to the Skyline complex (restaurant, scenic
   viewpoints, walking paths, luge runs) on Bob's
   Peak 1/4 mile above town.

• SAILING LAKE WAKATIPU: Depart Queenstown's
   pier on the historic steamship SS Earnslaw for
   a nostalgic cruise on Lake Wakatipu.

• SHOPPING: especially for local crafts and
   fashions in boutiques throughout Queenstown.

Queenstown offers a full range of restaurants
and cuisines: from gourmet to goulash.
NZ Tourism photo.

Attractions in the Queenstown Region: More activities are found nearby, including:

Pritchard's General Store has been a fixture
in Arrowtown since 1862, supplying gold-
panning equipment to avid and casual prospec-
tors alike. Today the old Pritchard's building
houses the Arrowtown Pharmacy behind its
elegant false front.          Photo © HOME AT FIRST

• ARROWTOWN & OTHER EX-MINING TOWNS: The    pursuit of gold and other minerals brought the   first European settlers to the region. Some of   their original sites are ghost towns today. One,  Arrowtown, a 30-minute drive from Queens-town, has become a fashionable community with a living pioneering style.

• GLEN ORCHY AND BEYOND PARADISE: The jaw-   dropping drive along the Lake Wakatipu shore   road west and north of Queenstown leads to   Glen Orchy, where the Dart and Rees Rivers   form the lake. Dart River jet boats and Glen   Orchy horse treks depart from here to explore   the incredible scenery which served as locations for the Lord of the Rings films. Driving

further north leads into the aptly named

Paradise, a pristine valley surrounded by

ranges of snowcapped mountains.

• GOLF: Four courses (Queenstown Kelvin Heights and Jack's Point in greater   Queenstown, and Arrowtown Golf Club   and Millbrook Resort in Arrowtown welcome visitors with friendly member-ships and challenging golf.

• RIDE THE STEAM TRAIN: The Kingston Flyer narrow gauge steam train operates twice daily service out of Kingston at the south end of Lake

Paradise beyond Glen Orchy.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST

Wakatipu (October - April).

• SKIING: Snow is expected on the four regional

Swing bridges and manicured trails make
day hiking the Routeburn Track enjoyable
for reasonably fit walkers of all
ages and levels of experience.

slopes during winter months (July-September).

• WALKING THE ROUTEBURN TRACK: Although the    complete trek requires three days and two   nights, it is possible to walk the eastern portion of this famous hiking trail as a day-hike across  swing bridges and through the temperate rain  forest to Routeburn Flats and back (4-5 hours).

• WINE TASTING: Some of the world's southern most vineyards produce delightful wines within thirty minutes of Queenstown. Gibbston Valley      Wines on Rt. 6 east of Queenstown offers wine tours, wine tastings, purchase of fine wines,  and delightful luncheons. May be done as part

of the Otago Central Rail Trail cycle adventure.

Lodgings: Top quality inns and resort lodgings in and near Queenstown ideally located for exploring the region. Home At First's highly-rated Queenstown Inn is located in a quiet residential neighborhood only five minutes walk from the heart of downtown Queenstown. The inn features a superb view overlooking the town and Lake Wakatipu, as well as excellent service, complete with a multiple choice breakfast and an evening happy hour in the lounge.

The dining-lounge with balcony
at a Queenstown Inn family suite.
 

      Queenstown Airport — surrounded by mountains
three-quarter-mile higher than its runway —
provides passengers white-knuckle take-offs AND
landings in bad weather, and, during periods OF
fine weather, fantastic views of the region's
mountains and lakes.

Getting to/from Queenstown: Home At First guests most often arrive in Queenstown by rental car, normally coming south from Westland, a very scenic drive of 6-8 hours. From Queenstown by car, guests drive south and west to Te Anau in Fiordland in 3-4 hours, east to DUNEDIN in 3-4.5 hours, or northeast to Mt. Cook/Lake Tekapo in 3-4 scenic hours, or all the way to Christchurch, in 5-7 hours. Some guests may fly to/from Queenstown Airport — 15-minutes drive from the center of town — which offers frequent domestic flight connections to points throughout New Zealand, especially Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland, as

well as international flights to Australia.

Getting around inside Queenstown: Use of a rental car is essential here, except for those staying in or near downtown Queenstown who can easily walk everywhere in the town center. Queenstown traffic and parking can be quite congested.

Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu, and
the Remarkables viewed from
an ascending Skyline Gondola.
Photo NZ Tourism.

      The Shotover Jet boat races the rapids of
the Shotover River through the Shotover
Canyon north of Queenstown. Passengers
report feeling "shot over" at the conclusion
of their extreme boating adventure.

Photo NZ Tourism.
 

Getting around outside of Queenstown: Use of a rental car is essential to explore the greater Queenstown region independently. Once outside of Queenstown roads are usually lightly traveled. Please note than many tour operators begin and end their tours from downtown Queenstown even for destinations far from the town, including many of the famed adventure trips: the great walks, jet boating, bungy jumping, and other extreme adventures, even trips beyond the region to Milford Sound or east to Dunedin via the Otago Central Rail Trail and the scenic Taieri Gorge Express tourist train.

Learn more about HOME AT FIRST's travel program to: NEW ZEALAND.

HOME AT FIRST IS A DESIGNATED "KIWI SPECIALIST"
TOUR OPERATOR BY THE NEW ZEALAND TOURISM BOARD.

— HOME AT FIRST —
AFFORDABLE DREAM TRAVEL WITH ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME.