Queenstown August 2013 - in Retrospect

After a crazy first 6 months of the year for us.... We snuck off to Queenstown, NZ for a week of R&R in August 2013. We loved it so much the year before when we were there in summer so we thought we would give it a go in winter. It was fantastic! “The Remarkables” really lived up to its name…this time they were topped in snow. We looked forward to the cold and quiet.

We stayed in an apartment on the lake front - less than 5 minutes walk from town. The view was breathtaking.

A French café for our first breakfast. Mark is a lover of Eggs benedict. To have them come as a Mille Feuille ... Wow!!

Delicious, warm and spicy mulled wine in a glass rimmed with cinnamon...sitting at a bar under the heat lamps with views to The Remarkables. The International Winter Extreme Games were on and it was interesting seeing all the nationalities represented and hearing their accents around town. Off course we ate and drank too much of that lovely NZ cuisine and one night we actually did a restaurant crawl to get home…that was a lot of fun.

A visit to Wanaka is a must for us when we are in this region. We just love this place and dream of a long stay in a fabulous house with views of the lake, one day with friends. Who wants to come??

I just loved how Marks jumper matched the flowers of the Jacaranda trees I could see from the lakes shore.

A drive around the west side of the lake took us to more amazing scenery and a visit to this winery. There were no shabby views anywhere!

Driving through the valley on the way back from Wanaka to Queenstown we stopped by this renowned winery. The wine cave was dug decades ago... I think by an Irish guy who moved to NZ.

Some of the barrels in the cave. We did a few tastings here.

A few evenings ended up like this!

Beautiful Queenstown lake and docks.

We love it here :-)

We took a drive to the Glenorchy which is at the far end of the lake. This place is just so picturesque and pristine...

Mark looking relaxed.

We don't do 'selfies' well !!!

One day... I say! One day.... I will go para-sailing. But not this trip.... Yep it was way too cold!!!

Queenstown from the air as we headed home. The week went very quickly, but we did rest and take it easy which is exactly what we set out to do…..Mark even started and finished a book in the week…..now that was amazing in itself!!!!!