Lake Wakatipu: The Lake Behind Queenstown’s Reputation

Lake Wakatipu is 80 km long, 291 metres deep at its lowest point, and shaped like a lightning bolt carved into the Otago landscape by glaciation. The lake never really warms up – hovering around 10 to 12 degrees Celsius year-round – which discourages casual swimming but keeps that particular blue-green colour that photographers return to Queenstown to capture. The Remarkables range runs along the southeastern edge and gets snow from June through October; in winter the mountains and the lake together produce a composition that is better than most people expect from New Zealand.

Queenstown

Queenstown sits on a bay near the lake’s northern end and has leaned hard into the adventure tourism label: bungy jumping, jet boating, paragliding, skydiving. These activities are legitimate fun and also expensive. The original commercial bungy jump at Kawarau Gorge (43 metres, the world’s first, opened 1988) costs around NZ$245. The jet boat on the Shotover River is around NZ$150.

For something that costs nothing, the Queenstown Hill Time Walk track starts near the town centre and climbs to 900 metres in about 2 hours return. The views of the lake from the top are better than anything in a tourist brochure and the only other people up there tend to be local dog walkers.

Ben Lomond

The full Ben Lomond summit (1748m) is 11 km return and takes 5 to 6 hours. The Gondola (around NZ$44 return) saves about 400 metres of climbing if you want to start higher. The track is well-marked. Take waterproofs regardless of what the morning looks like – Queenstown weather changes quickly.

Eating and Drinking

Fergburger on Shotover Street is worth the queue, which will be long. A burger runs NZ$12 to 17. Amisfield Winery on Lake Hayes Road, about 15 minutes from Queenstown, does a proper set-menu lunch that justifies the drive. Central Otago Pinot Noir is the regional wine and it is good; Central Otago as a wine region produces some of the most southern Pinot Noir in the world, and the altitude and temperature range gives it a distinctive minerality that sets it apart from other New Zealand styles.

Getting to Milford Sound

The drive from Queenstown is 4 hours each way on the Milford Road. Guided day tours depart from around NZ$250 per person and include a cruise on the sound. This is a long day but worth doing properly rather than rushing. The road closes in heavy snow in winter; check conditions.