QUEENSTOWN, NZ
WORDS BY VERONIKA MAKOVEY-CARAFA
Just a mere 3 hour flight from Melbourne a wide world of rugged, raw postcard-esque mountainous backdrops, azure blue lake crevices and vast open spaces await. Spaces brimming with adventurous opportunities or slower-paced luxuries in which to take in the views in your own time. Regardless your personality, we have you covered here with where to eat, stay, play and shop. Given, this being a sustainable fashion magazine, Queenstown with its glorious natural wonders seemed like a perfect first travel destination feature. The convenience of flying here, teamed with the town’S proximity to the airport (15min drive from town centre to the terminal) and ease to access roads exploring the Otago region makes it the best base to venture off on wine tasting tours and forest bathing hikes.
Situated on the South New Zealand Island, in the southern lakes region, Queenstown the tiny, busy city sits entirely surrounded by Mountains, such as the Remarkables, and overlooks Lake Wakatipu. The lake itself is the most vivd blue and clear as day. For all of the adventures you could occupy yourself with here, simply sitting by the water and observing the ever-changing backdrop could just be the most enjoyable experience you have.
For all the words I could use to describe Queenstown, vivd would definitely be it. The colours are so alluring and so intensely startling, that it’s no wonder people call this place breath-taking. From the endless fields covered in yellow cornflowers and purple loopins (lavender-like flowers) that had lined the roads in January, at the time of visiting, you could lose yourself and be whisked to a moment reminiscing Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music spinning 360’s before she cut up the curtains. We stayed in Queenstown for 5 days, and found this to be the perfect length of time to clock the experiences we had tabbed. Given it was Summer there was no shortage of things to do: we had scenic flights via plane or helicopter, sailing trips, bungee and zip-line jumps, white-water rafting, mountain bike and hiking trails, sky-diving and horseback riding all on offer. Summer is definitely the more popular season to go as the activity options are endless. We personally opted to hire a motorbike for 3 days to be able to cover some ground, on minimal fuel. It also meant we could go off road, make pit stops more readily and park with ease.
