Hiking/Trekking

Queenstown Hill

Posted by pdittman on November 27th, 2019 in '19 - New Zealand

After our morning hike/walk around Lake Alta, we wanted to get out and stretch our legs a bit more. This walk was a great option. And while its name suggests something small, compared to say, Queenstown Mountain, or Queenstown Summit, this walk amounted to about 1500ft elevation gain over about 2 miles – not insignificant.

As we’d been experiencing, NZ had many “big bang for the buck” hikes – Queenstown Hill was no exception. The trailhead was literally in a neighborhood not far from our AirBnB.

and while not much from a distance and elevation perspective, we were quickly out of the town environs, and following easy paths through some woods.

Here, passing hikers (likely including some kids) had some fun with cairns – creating something of a cairn garden!

As we continued onward, gaining a bit of elevation, we shortly left the trees and were treated to some amazing views of Queenstown!

Along the way, we stopped at the Basket of Dreams – a sculpture to commerate the millenium. Set in an open area, with commanding views of Queenstown, the sculpture seemed to inspire meditation similar to a labyrinth.

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Far, Far Away

From all our research, there were an amazing number of trails to choose from on the south island, so it seemed like a likely “target” – providing many opportunities for adventure. Of course, first we had to get there – no small feat when it’s nearly halfway around the world! We decided to center our adventure in Queenstown, giving us relatively easy access to Milford Sound, the southern section of Mount Aspiring national park, and access to parts of the

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Lake Marian

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