September snow fun, sightseeing and art in Queenstown

My youngest daughter and I flew down to Queenstown, in September 2018, to visit a friend and support her with an art exhibition.

It was a wonderfully long weekend of  fun in the snow, sight-seeing, great food, wine, company and art!

A few days before our visit my hubby had flown down with our oldest daughter for a weekend of ski fun too!

Unfortunately we couldn’t all go as a family as our middle daughter was busy with the World of Wearable Art Show in Wellington (but she was having a blast with the show, so didn’t feel like she was missing out!).

Back in Queenstown, on a marvellously sunny day, my daughter and I joined my friend, her son and her Mum, for a scenic boat cruise on the TSS Earnslaw, across Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak Farm.

This boat trip can be extremely busy in peak-tourist season, so it was a treat to sail out of season, with plenty of space to walk about on board and to enjoy a quiet glass of wine, whilst listening to beautiful music playing by a pianist.

Once at Walter Peak we enjoyed a farm tour and afternoon tea, before returning on the steamship to Queenstown.

It was a delightful time of year to visit, with spring in the air, lambs abound and gardens blooming with flowers.

The Queenstown gardens were a treat to behold too. We enjoyed walking around the gardens and on to the shore of Lake Wakatipu.

My friend’s art exhibition was a wonderful success, as well as being a fund-raiser for Land Search and Rescue in which to pay gratitude to the volunteers and their partners and a tribute to the lives lost. Jane Kellahan donated $2,550 to LandSAR.

I decided to invest in a beautiful piece of Jane’s artwork, having been an admirer of her work for some years.

Whilst in Queenstown we also had an exhilarating jet boat ride with our friends!

My daughter and I really enjoyed our time together – it was a rare treat for us to have one-on-one Mum and daughter time. We stayed at a lovely hotel – ‘The Heritage Queenstown‘, with a great swimming pool (of course she had to take her mermaid tail!).

The food in the bar and restaurant was absolutely delicious!

The views from the hotel were stunning and we were able to walk down into Queenstown, whilst enjoying the tranquility of the lakeside.

One day we drove a little further afield, to the beautiful village of Arrowtown. We did a little sight-seeing and explored the Arrowtown Chinese Settlement, imagining what it would have been like to have lived in those little huts through some harsh winters!

It was an amazing trip all round. The ski resorts of the south island really are wonderful and there’s so much to do aside from skiing as well!