Skyline gondola and luge are located at the top of Brecon Street – a 10 minute walk – and are highly recommended. Take a gondola ride to the peak and soak in the views. When you arrive you have adventure options of bungy jumping, paragliding, helicopter rides and luging which is a fun family activity with different grades of luge track from beginners to advanced. The beautiful award winning Skyline restaurant – as well as having breathtaking views – boasts amazing lunch and dinner buffets with menus featuring the best of New Zealand produce.
The Skyline is also a good launching spot for some the beautiful tramping and hiking trails that the Queenstown and Wakatipu areas are well known for. When you exit the Gondola you can head for the Lookout and then on to the Saddle. There are magnificent views of the lake and mountains (3-4 hours return). When you reach the Saddle you can continue on to the peak of Ben Lomond (6- 8 hours return), but the last pitch to the top of Ben Lomond is very steep. The demanding climb offers spectacular panoramic views and on clear days Mounts Earnslaw/Pikirakatahi and Aspiring/Tititea can be seen from the summit (1748 metres). Another close-by hiking trail is up Queenstown Hill which is about a 3 hour round trip. The 500-metre climb through pine forest to the summit of Te Tapu-nui (mountain of intense sacredness) is well rewarded by the views. These are some of the tramps that we have tried and there are many more, which offer some of the most peaceful and beautiful nature experiences that you could think of.
These are just a few of the attractions – and I haven’t even started on the fabulous choices for shopping, restaurants and cafes.
Enjoy Queenstown – we always do!
