The Remarkable Beauty, Queenstown, New Zealand

The Remarkables at Queenstown creates an impressive backdrop for many photographers and film makers. It was used as the backdrop of a scene in the Lord of The Rings movie too (click for more info).

The mountain range is geographically unique as it runs in a North-South direction. So even without a compass, you can tell where North, South, East and West are, simply by looking at the mountain range.

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The left side points North, while the right side points South
View from Deer Park
Queenstown, Aug 2006
There are various stories regarding how The Remarkables got its name. One story cites its unique North-South orientation. Another which I have read attributes it to the different colours of the mountain range as seen during the day and across the seasons. Having seen for myself the colours of The Remarkables over the many vacations spent in Queenstown, I will go for the latter story.

If a picture paints a thousand words, then these photos speak volumes about the remarkable beauty of The Remarkables.

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The Remarkables in ash-grey in winter
View from Steamer Wharf
Queenstown, July 2004

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The Remarkables in "brownies" in late spring
View from Lake Esplanade
Queenstown, Nov 2005
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The Remarkables having the "blues" in winter
View from Lake Esplanade
Queenstown, Aug 2006
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The Remarkables in the "pink of health" in winter
View from Lake Esplanade
Queenstown, Aug 2006
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The Remarkables "on fire" in winter
View from Lake Esplanade
Queenstown, Aug 2006

Lord of the Rings at Deer Park, Queenstown

Finally, for the fans of Lord of The Rings (LOTR), here is a photo for you. Though having watched two of the movies, I have to admit I am no fan of the trilogy movies. However, I am a keen fan (read as fanatic) of New Zealand.

When I went up to Deer Park, it was not my intention to see the spots where the movie was filmed. My guide explained and pointed out some of the LOTR stuff but they simply didn’t register in my head! I was not paying attention and neither did I take any photos of the LOTR stuff. Instead of “Wow, LOTR!”, I was in my own fanatic world and my eyes were “Wow, Queenstown!”.

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The Remarkables
Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006
The above mountain range is known as The Remarkables. In The Two Towers, the scene of the Rohan refugees making their way round a pool of water was filmed at this spot with The Remarkables in the background.

The view from Deer Park is so breathtaking! Someday when you are in Queenstown, do remember to visit Deer Park to experience it for yourself; to see as far as you could see, to feel the cool breeze and to enjoy the warmth of the sun on both East & West Summit.

Your visit to Deer Park would not be complete without seeing this beautiful animal at close range:

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Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006

Spectacular View from Deer Park, West Summit, Queenstown

The East Summit view from Deer Park is not complete without this view from West Summit.

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View from West Summit, Deer Park
Queenstown, Aug 2006
West Summit offers a good view of Queenstown. From this spot, you can see Queenstown spread out along the edge of Lake Wakatipu. In the centre foreground, the residential area of Kelvin Heights leads into the Queenstown golf course. If you golf, do remember to pack your clubs for your New Zealand vacation. There are about 400 registered golf courses in New Zealand and this makes it the country with the highest number of golf courses per capita in the world! With a population of 4 million, that means there is a golf course for every 10,000 people!

If you are seeking for Paradise, just look straight ahead and follow the mountain range in the centre of the photo. Somewhere out there lies Paradise. We hear it so often: “the answer lies in front of our eyes”. :-)

If you are seeking for golfer’s paradise, Queenstown golf course (in the centre foreground of this photo) may be your place.

Spectacular View from Deer Park, East Summit (Part II), Queenstown

In my previous posting, the photo taken on East Summit of Deer Park provided only 270 degrees view. Below photo provides the remaining 90 degrees view.

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View from East Summit,
Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006
This panorama was composed from 6 photos, 3 for the top half and 3 for the bottom half. On the left, Lake Wakatipu flows out as the Kawaura river. You see the road that crosses over the river? That is a narrow single lane bridge and it is also where you will find the first and only pair of traffic lights (one on each end of the bridge) in the whole of Queenstown / Southern Lakes district. The traffic lights were only installed in the past year.

In the centre of the photo, the distinctive straight track is the runway of the Queenstown airport. You can easily spot the airport terminal (off centre, towards the left). The houses and buildings around the airport is the township of Frankton. By strict definition, Queenstown or Queenstown CBD (central business district) is about 7 km away. Like Queenstown, Frankton is an up and coming area in the district.

At one end of the airport runway (towards the right), another river flows out to meet the Kawaura river. This is the Shotover river where you will experience the exciting Shotover jetboat rides. For the Kawaura river, the landmark bridge over it, the Kawaura Bridge marks the spot of the world’s first bungee jump.

Follow the meandering Kawaura river and you will see Lakes Hayes between the distant 2 hills. The wisp of cloud (perhaps smoke) overhanging the left hill is where Arrowtown is located.

On the right side of the photo, the edge of the mountain is The Remarkables. Using this mountain edge, piece together the above panorama with the previous panorama (270 degrees view) and experience the complete 360 degrees panorama in your mind!

The view from Deer Park is simply spectacular!

Spectacular View from Deer Park, East Summit (Part I), Queenstown

On the East Summit of Deer Park, you will find a building of Asian architecture. This building called “The Korean Prison” was a movie set that was built in 1986 for the children’s Walt Disney movie “The Rescue”.

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"The Korean Prison"
Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006

My guide explained that it took several months to build the movie set which cost about NZ$ 1 million. So after filming was completed, it was just abandoned. While "The Korean Prison" stands out as a unique feature and landmark in the park, there are many who see it as an eyesore marring the spectacular view on Deer Park. Since then, movie sets constructed in the park have to be removed upon completion of filming.

What will you experience on the East Summit of Deer Park? “The Korean Prison” in above photo puts this panorama into perspective. Spanning about 270 degrees, it took 10 photos to compose:

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270 degrees view on East Summit
Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006

From the left, you see The Remarkables mountain range. The sky-blue body of water is Lake Wakatipu. On the left of “The Korean Prison” is Cecil Peak and the distant Walter Peak. On the right of “The Korean Prison”, you will find Bob’s Peak and beneath the mountain range lies Queenstown. In the centre of the photo, obscured by the mound behind “The Korean Prison”, where the mountain range stretches far away into the distance, you will find this place called Paradise!

The Animals at Deer Park, Queenstown

In an earlier posting, I mentioned about bringing extra $1 coins to Deer Park, Queenstown but did not elaborate about this matter. The $1 coins are for the purchase of “sheep nuts” and $1 gets a full tin of this stuff. So what do you do with the “nuts”? Aha, that’s when your fun on Deer Park starts!

My guide called this stuff “sheep nuts”. They are actually small bits of dried food pellets. For sheep? One of the surprises at Deer Park is that besides the deer, you get to see a whole lot of other animals too. There are miniature horses, ducks, pigs, sheep, goats, alpacas, llamas …… even highland cattle and the North American bison. Calling it “The Animal Farm” would have been more appropriate!

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Ducks, miniature horses and ugly pigs!
“The Animal Farm”
Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006

These animals roam freely on Deer Park but some are kept within fenced enclosures. To get the animals to come to you, all you have to do is shake the tin of food pellets to make a rattling sound. One of my memorable encounters was with the goats and llamas. Shook the tin and I found myself surrounded by a couple of excited llamas and goats! As the llamas are almost as tall as a man, it was a challenge trying to keep the tin out of their reach. After being jostled by a couple of them, I started to smell like them too! Haha... Unlike llamas, the alpacas are nice, gentle and well mannered.

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Excited llamas and goats!
Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006

Feeding the animals, having them slopped saliva on your palms, you will inevitably have a good collection of exotic saliva ...... so do expect to get dirty and smell like one of the animals on your trip!

To see Pavlov theory in action, shaking a tin in Deer Park will give you a good first hand experience of frenzied salivating animals around you!

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Young Kids 1-2 weeks old	Himalayan Tarn (beautiful long hair)
North American Bison (small horns, big nose)	Highland Cattle (big horns, big nose)

The Alpaca at Deer Park Queenstown

How do I look in my new hairdo and fur coat ?
(a wolf in sheep’s clothing..... haha !)
Seriously, this woolly creature is an alpaca and it is native to South America. My first encounter with this animal was in Deer Park. It resembles a sheep but is much larger and it has a long erect neck. Like the sheep, an alpaca is covered in a thick coat of fur.

The alpaca is a beautiful creature, gentle in nature, intelligent and inquisitive. As a prey animal, it is cautious and nervous and like having its own space. In spite of encountering many visitors in Deer Park daily, the herd of alpacas was cautious with us initially and kept their distance. It took a few minutes before these animals calmed down and let us approached them.

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Herd of alpacas at Deer Park
Queenstown, Aug 2006

In the snow-capped background, that is Queenstown below the mountain range.

Unlike the llama, the alpaca is not used as a beast of burden. It is reared mainly for its wool and meat. Compared to sheep’s wool, alpaca wool is warmer, silkier, feels more luxurious and lighter in weight. Another attractive feature, it does not contain lanolin (which the sheep has) and this makes alpaca wool almost hypoallergenic.

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A beautiful alpaca
Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006
For ease of dyeing the wool, alpacas have been bred mainly as white. Like sheep, you will find them in many shades of colour. As you see in the photo, an alpaca’s thick coat of fur gives it an appearance of an oversized long-neck sheep!

Deer Park Heights, Queenstown

Queenstown is so exciting with so much to see and do! I have been at Queenstown more than 10 times but it was only on this recent trip that I finally made my way to Deer Park Heights. With so much exciting places to see and interesting activities to do, it is so easy to put aside Deer Park Heights. Yeah, what can be so interesting about seeing a park with a couple of deers, right? WRONG!!!

One of the sites around Queenstown for the filming of Lord of The Rings (LOTR), I had thought this place was overhyped and oversold by all the movie attention. Well, I was proven wrong. My regret, I wished I had seen it in my earlier trips! Now that you have heard it from me, put Deer Park Heights in your list of must-see when you are in Queenstown.

It is easy to get to the park, just 10 minutes drive from the heart of Queenstown. You could self-drive or join the coach tours. Travel along Frankton Road (main road which leads into Queenstown), head towards the direction of Queenstown airport, cross the narrow single-lane bridge and turn to Kelvin Heights, the premium residential area in Queenstown. You can’t miss the signboards leading to the park.

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Welcome to Deer Park Heights
Queenstown, Aug 2006
Deer Park is a massive 800 hectares! It is a private park which still operates as a working deer farm. An entrance fee of NZ$20 per car is paid at the gate. Though walkers get in free, you would be wise to pay the $20 and drive in. If you came well prepared for tramping in New Zealand, then by all means walk in. For those on the tours, the coach will bring you into the park

Besides sunscreen, hat/cap, warm jacket, …. which are the standard pre-requisites for your vacation in New Zealand, bring along the following to Deer Park:
- 1 dollar coins (if self-drive)
- memory storage cards for digital camera (else lots of film). You will be taking lots of photos on this half-day trip!

The excitement:
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Picturesque view from Deer Park Heights
Queenstown, Aug 2006
550m above Queenstown, this place provides spectacular, 360 degrees, breath-taking views of the basins, lakes and mountain range surrounding Queenstown!

Look out for my next few postings with even more stunning photos from Deer Park!

Queenstown, Adventure Capital of the World !

Queenstown is the Adventure Capital of the World. Besides spectacular scenery, being a great place for relaxation and honeymooners, this beautiful resort town is also the adrenalin capital offering lots of exciting adventures!

It is said that Queenstown got its name from being “fit for Queen Victoria”. How far back that was, I have no idea. Fit for a Queen..... for the rest of us, it definitely is a great place to be at. I have visited Queenstown more than 10 times and yet I am never tired of this place. I cannot describe it but this place has a special quality …. it energizes and makes me alive! It makes me want to live (beyond a mere drudgery existence)!

Queenstown buzzes across the 4 seasons. In summer and winter, the crowds converge upon this town. So secure your bookings (flight, car/coach, accommodation) in advance to minimize any upset to a good holiday. In autumn, things slow down a little yet it is still a good season to experience Queenstown’s autumn splendour. My first visit to New Zealand was in autumn and that vacation changed my life!

When it comes to adventure tourism, Queenstown is IT ! For land adventures, there are the two-legged varieties and you tramp from a few hours to few weeks (!!). For two-wheels, you mountain-bike and for four-wheels, you get 4-wheel drive adventures! Oh, I forgot, there are also other four legged varieties: You get horse-riding on Lord Of The Rings tours too!

In winter, the crowds descend on Queenstown for their winter adventures. With 4 main mountain ski fields within a radius of 100km, this white stuff is skiers’ paradise!

For water adventures, there is the leisurely cruise on Lake Wakatipu or the exciting jetboat rides on the rivers. If fish is your kind of adventure, then trout and salmon are your game.

For air adventures, the sky really is the limit! For something very mild, take the Skyline gondola and follow up with a more exciting luge ride down the hill (part of it only). For the moderate adventure, get on the scenic flights (helicopter or plane) with a snow landing. For the ultimate heart-thumping air adventure, throw yourself off Bob’s peak with your guide and paraglide down to Queenstown! Alternatively, choose an equally heart-thumping plunge over the Kawaura bridge, the original birthplace of bungee jumping and get your head dunked in the cold rushing waters of the mighty Kawaura river!

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Paragliding
Queenstown, Adventure Capital of the World, Aug 2006

If these adrenalin-surging activities are not your cup of tea, then head down to the vineyards for your glass of Pinot Noir. There are also lots of leisurely activities in Queenstown for your enjoyment!

Queenstown is the Adventure Capital of the World!

Queenstown – Jewel in the Crown

If you have not heard of Queenstown, New Zealand, you have missed out something good. Thanks to the Lord Of The Rings (LOTR) movie trilogy, many people around the world “discovered” Queenstown in recent years. The movies were filmed in many locations throughout New Zealand and the spectacular landscape of the Queenstown region also provided the stunning backdrop to a number of scenes. My first visit to Queenstown was in April 1999 and that memorable vacation changed my life!

Located in a region of breathtaking scenery, Queenstown is often referred to as the jewel in New Zealand’s crown. It is situated on the shores of Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by majestic mountain ranges.

Regarded as New Zealand’s premier tourist destination, it has been voted by readers of Conde Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure as the friendliest place in the world and ranked with Paris and Rome, amongst the world’s best destinations.

From a sleepy lakeside town 30 years ago, it has grown to become a sophisticated all year round international resort. Presently, it attracts about 1.4 million visitors per year of which 60% are international visitors.

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Queenstown Central Business District, August 2006
From the magnificent views of the mountains to the lake, beautiful walking trails, world-class wine from its vineyards, adrenaline charged activities, golf courses, ski-fields, ......

Queenstown is truly the jewel in New Zealand’s crown.