DAY 1 & 2
The week (7 days) is now five and a half days due to weather complications.
We flew out of Auckland in the morning of Saturday 5th June and as we were approaching Queenstown the rugged beauty was as always some of the best scenery we’ve seen around the world. There was some good snow cover on the mountains (1500metres above sea level), a bit of low cloud but also patches of blue sky and sunshine. However the Pilot was warning of some turbulence descending through the ranges into the valley where the airport is located. The wind was blowing at 30knots from the North (50 to 55KM Hr) making out descent perilous. The plan, to sit tight above it and wait for a break in the wind. This happened and we began our descent but although not the worst landing I’ve had in Queenstown, it was very rough. Passengers were becoming scared with a few squeals as we rocked sideways and then slammed up and down a few times. This was short lived as the plane began to ascend again. Our destiny. Back to Auckland. So day one, four hours in a plane met by the disappointing reality that the next best flight was midday the next day. Better safe though.
Day 2, we made it into Queenstown and were greeted with clear sky’s, an icy 8degrees and no wind. We landed at 2pm so the golf plans were moved to the next day which is actually quite nice as there’s so much to explore in Queenstown and it’s easy to get wrapped up in the many excellent courses and not see anything else.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon walking through Queenstown and noting the many excellent eating options. We never really shop when we are on holiday but for those really keen to amble from one store to the next Queenstown is very compact and laid out in an easy grid system with laneways to connect so you can navigate simply and shop up a storm without venturing too far.
We always stay in a central location to restaurants etc so that once checked in we can park up and just walk everywhere. This trip we stayed at the Crowne Plaza which is directly across from Steamer Wharf and many of the on water activities. The Hotel is also a short walk around the corner to the base of the Gondola that will ferry you up and down Queenstown Hill. From the top you can have the most amazing views of the lake, the Remarkable Mountains and the town. It’s also the start point for many adventures to be had in Queenstown, mountain bike trails, treetop zip lining, tandem paragliding, luge, hiking and of course eating and drinking.
Queenstown has five Golf courses ranked in the top 100 New Zealand Golf Courses. 6. Jack’sPoint, 7. Arrowtown, 9. The Hills, 17. Millbrook & 48. Queenstown (Kelvin Heights) We have on a previous trip played Arrowtown & Queenstown, so this week we are playing Jack’s Point, The Hills & Millbrook.
Cocktail Hour & Dinner
We started at Boardwalk across from the Hotel in Steamer Wharf. We got a table on the boardwalk area looking out over the wharf and lake where we were entertained with the various Jet boats, the Shark Submersibles and the Parasailing.
As is our holiday tradition we like to begin the evening with a cocktail and Boardwalk was advertising $10 cocktails from 3.30pm so it would have been rude not to try them out. I had a simple but very nice Margarita and Scott had A Kiwi Thing (42 below feijoa vodka, kiwifruit, cointreau, fresh lime). The cocktail list is really long but worth a read and their Dessert Cocktails sound very tempting.
From Boardwalk we wandered through a very busy Queenstown centre which is part of the great vibe Queenstown has when it’s busy. Buskers, families, tourists and a happy fun atmosphere is everywhere. We headed to Fogo a traditional Brazilian BBQ which we’d read about and is rated very well from other travellers.
It did not disappoint, It was warm, welcoming and the smells as you walked in had us confident we were hungry. There is a small menu or you can opt for the BBQ experience which is an all you can eat commitment. There were a few diners doing this but it seemed a bit overwhelming for us so we chose the Prawns in Garlic as a shared starter and then the Boteco for two (Picanha, Lamb, Chicken w/ Bacon and Brazilian Sausage served with rice, beans, potato salad and farofa).
This was perfect, the meats were beautifully BBQ’d with that Smokey flavour and melt in your mouth texture. We ranked the Brazilian Sausage as best, the Picanha (Rump cut steak) and Lamb second equal and the Chicken was also good. The Boteco comes with sides that you can top up at no additional cost so we found the platter with an additional round of the sides was plenty. The sides were interesting and yummy. Potato Salad, rice and the black beans, more like a Dahl were tasty. The interesting thing was the farofa which our table staff said was to sprinkle on anything like a condiment. It was very fine breadcrumbs with garlic powder. Very very moorish. With this we drank the Akurua Chardonnay and found the match to be just perfect.
The other experience to have at Fogo are the Caipirihnas. Not to be mistaken with a Caprioska. A Caipirihna is made with a traditional Brazilian liqueur called cachaca and generally mixed with a variety of fruit flavours. I had Raspberry and Scott had Passionfruit. Refreshing and a nice way to start dinner.
We finished our evening by returning to Boardwalk for a dessert cocktail. Tonight we had the Banoffee Pie and it really was like drinking Banoffee Pie.
Tomorrow we play Jack’s Point.