Third day in New Zealand - Queenstown

On our third day we drove from Mt Cook to Queenstown. This is a view of the Remarkable Mountains from the hill in Queenstown.

This shot is taken from the street on which our hotel was located. The trees on the far side of the water are in a city park on the peninsula.

After dinner we we drive on the mountain side in Queenstown to take pictures of the Remarkables as the sun was setting. Here you can see the shadow of the mountains across the lake creeping up the mountains.

This shot is a few minutes later. Notice how the color is becoming more red.

The lake is called Lake Wakatipu.

Here the sun has set completely and the lights are coming on in the town below the mountains.

This is a shot of downtown Queenstown after dark about 180 degrees away from the mountain pictures above.

The first European came to Queenstown in 1853. There was a gold rush in 1862 that got the city started.

This is one of the main streets - actually a pedestrian mall now - in Queenstown.  Queenstown is all about tourism. There is a huge infrastructure of restaurants, hotels, campgrounds, etc. Amazingly the traffic is not bad. There is a pretty efficient bus service and it is all pretty compact so it is easy to walk.

This guy was standing on the dock at the waterfront.

Click to enlarge.

Queenstown bills itself as the adventure or adrenalin capital of New Zealand. Bungy jumping was invented here and there are all sorts of activities. Here some sky divers are landing in the park in the center of town. Skiing is very popular in the winter.

This a shot of the harbor at Queenstown and the park across the way. Not a lot of boating but there are some excursion ships and fishing and water taxi charters.

Here is a shot of Margot across the street from the dentist office where I had to have my crown re-cemented on our second day there.