There’s something in the air _{by Madelaine Empson}

Queenstown (Winter 2018)

As I stepped off the plane in Queenstown, I was immediately struck by the beauty of the place. Mountains. As far as the eye can see. Encircled, it’s as if I’ve been transported to the centre of a snow-capped universe. The air is different here.

My partner Dean and I arrived in Queenstown on a Friday morning for a weekend filled with adventure and adrenaline. We booked our trip during off-peak season: in May, just weeks before the snow brings skiers and snowboarders in their droves. In fact, just one week after we left, the whole town was blanketed in white. We watched the process happening while we were there: every day, there was just a little more snow dusting the peaks of those awestriking mountains.

If you’re not a ski bunny (I can barely balance on two legs let alone two sticks), I couldn’t recommend early-mid May to travel to Queenstown more. It’s cold but not miserable, most tourist attractions and activities are still open (just), and the streets aren’t overcrowded. Don’t get me wrong: there’s still a whole lot of people experiencing all that this scenically-stunning town has to offer. It’s not a tourist mecca for nothing. But like our disorganised selves, you’ll have little trouble booking your dream activities on short notice in May.

On that note, our first stop was Arrowtown for a spot of gold panning at Dudley’s Cottage. Fortunately I rang ahead; Allie was just about to close early until the ski season began. She kindly held the historic cottage open for us, and after a gorgeous 20-minute drive from our accommodation (the well-equipped Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown Lakefront) we arrived, bundled in beanies, gloves, and scarves. The gloves wouldn’t stay on long however; it was time to plunge our hands into the freezing water troughs outside for a gold panning lesson from A, the most animated and entertaining instructor I’ve ever encountered.

At Dudley’s Cottage, you’re guaranteed to find gold during your lesson. It’s bottled up for you in cute little see-through vials which you can then take home and brag about to all your family and friends. If you’re game, you’re then guided to Arrow River to try your hand at the real deal.

The gold-famed Arrow River is a tributary of the Kawarau River – which incidentally we would jet boat over and bungy into the next day. Dean and I enjoyed a copper-hued autumnal walk there from the cottage, armed with shovel and pan, before our first and only holiday disagreement ensued. To gold pan, you must first dig a hole. I thought that hole had to be dug in the middle of the river, regardless of the season. At two degrees Celsius I of course sent Dean to do the job, before thinking twice and ringing Allie back at the cottage.

No, you dig your hole on the shore.

We had such fun gold panning and may or may not have found an extremely rare gold nugget, which we only realised after Googling it later. By that point, Dean had already thrown it back into the river. He doesn’t want to talk about it.

Because Arrowtown is wrapped in mountains, more so than Queenstown, it loses its sun at about 2pm in autumn. Our afternoon trip therefore presented the coldest temperatures we experienced on our minibreak (except for a minus nine degree stint the following night, but more on that later), and I would recommend you visit earlier in the day to make the most of your time in the charming gold rush village. However, being so cold meant we had an excuse to enjoy a hearty, warming, rustic dinner at The Stables.

After savouring their famous lamb, which is slow-cooked in a rich tomato and red wine sauce for a whopping 10 hours, we left feeling beyond satisfied. Sitting by an old boiler fireplace in what felt like an alpine cabin shrouded by candlelight was just the well-nigh winter warmer we needed.

The next day, we rose early for the activities we’d booked in Queenstown: a KJet jet boat ride on three waterways, and a 43-metre plunge at AJ Hackett’s Kawarau Bridge Bungy Centre.

Established in 1958, KJet was the world’s first commercial jet boat operator, and is New Zealand’s original jet boat ride. It’s a family-owned business, which shows. Every team member we encountered was lovely, from Jess who printed our photos and buckled me up in my lifejacket to Jalan, our enthusiastic driver.

At an hour, the jet boat ride is the perfect activity to squeeze into an action-packed holiday. It’s not going to leave you exhausted, but will fill you with enough exhilaration and energy to keep you on a high for days. Covering the mighty Kawarau and Shotover rivers, and featuring skims and spins galore, we had a blast with KJet. Our ride also included a visit to the Queenstown Underwater Observatory, where you can get inches away from huge trout and slinky eels. Pressing our noses on the glass, we popped a coin in and watched these sea creatures slither into a feeding frenzy.

Next up was the bungy, and although this would be my third time rashly diving into an abyss, I found myself becoming increasingly nervous as the jump loomed closer. Dean, a bungy virgin, was suspiciously calm – even while on the ledge. He kept his head screwed on while I quite lost mine. Luckily, my jump guide was heaven-sent; just as I was about to chicken out and back down, he helped me through my fear. My screams reverberated through the valley, bouncing off the river below and likely deafening all within a 10-mile radius. It was awesome. There is nothing quite like the thrill of a bungy jump – it’s something that has to be experienced to be believed, and what better place to experience it than the Kawarau Bridge Bungy Centre, the first commercial bungy jump operation in the world?

On the way back to Queenstown as we were driving through Lake Hayes, an attractive vineyard caught my eye: Wet Jacket Wines. We couldn’t possibly visit Central Otago without trying its famed pinot varietals, and the pinot noir did not disappoint. The kindly John took us through a tasting, the fully-functional woolshed onsite, and then to Whitestone Cheese, a maturation room boasting stunning cheeses to sample and buy. That’s right, Wet Jacket is a one-stop cheese and wine shop, and well-worth a visit.

Wandering through the many exquisite galleries and shops in the town centre afterwards (an ink on canvas work by Sofia Minson at Art Bay Gallery is still firmly imprinted in my mind), we stumbled across Minus Five Ice Bar, where everything, and I mean everything, is made of ice. The cups. The bar. The seats. Rugged up in massive coats, we had a boogie inside and a delicious fruity cocktail (served up by amiable bartender Ponthus), before emerging freezing but charmed. Thankfully, the manager Emma walked us straight over to Minus Five’s sister bar Little Blackwood, where Lucy warmed our hearts with delicious cocktails. An Espresso Martini and a London Cut (a superb house-created cocktail featuring gin, mint, cucumber, and chilli-infused ginger syrup) later, and we were off to Fergburger.

Fergburger is something of a Queenstown institution. Almost every local we came across – and tourist, for that matter – told us we had to dine there. After a massive, meaty, mouth-watering Ferg Deluxe, I’m inclined to agree with them.

It was back to the hotel for us then; I had a hankering for a peppermint tea, and the concierge kindly brought a few teabags straight to the door. Ah, the room service life.

The next day I woke up with a killer cold, and had to write off most of the day in bed. We made it out that evening for two things: a terrifying trip to Fear Factory, and a stunning Skyline Gondola ride to dinner and a romantic stargazing experience.

Fear Factory Queenstown is New Zealand’s scariest haunted house attraction. Well, that’s their tagline, but I do not dispute it. It’s hard to say whether I screamed more walking through the pitch-black maze, or jumping off the bridge. I can definitely say that the adrenaline in this case cleared my sinuses.

After a recovery walk back to the car, in which I had to shiftily skirt my eyes around every corner to make sure no actors dressed as ghouls were about to jump out at me, we pulled into the Skyline base. Unfortunately, we couldn’t have picked a worse night weather-wise to ride the elating gondola to the panoramic restaurant and bar at the top. Fog galore meant we couldn’t see anything, although I can imagine the views would be unlike anything else you’d hope to see in this world. The buffet dinner at Stratosfare was excellent, with more options than I’ve seen before in dining of this kind. The banoffee ice cream in particular was to die for. Understandably, the stargazing experience was cancelled, but exploring upstairs we found three amazing artworks made entirely out of jellybeans – I think each one would have featured enough beans to fill the night sky!

Although that darned cold lingered for weeks after our trip, I’d catch a million more just for another glimpse of Queenstown. What an outstanding holiday destination.