Queenstown is the town on the lake with the mountains behind it where New Zealand invented the bungee jump, and it is also one of the best towns in the world for children, because everything that was built for adrenaline has a junior version.
The gondola up Bob’s Peak is the first hour. The view of the lake and the Remarkables, and at the top, the luge, a gravity cart on a track down the hill that everyone rides five times. The chairlift takes you back up. Kids over six alone, younger ones with a parent.
The Shotover Jet is the boat. A jet boat through a narrow canyon at high speed, spinning in circles, missing the rocks by inches. Kids over three with the right seat, and it is the ride every child talks about. The Kawarau bridge is where the bungee jumping happens and watching is free.
Glenorchy, Arrowtown and the lake
The drive to Glenorchy is forty five minutes along the lake to a village at the end of the road with mountains on three sides and a boardwalk over a lagoon. Every film with a mountain in it was shot here. A horse trek from Glenorchy for kids over eight.
Arrowtown is the gold rush village with the ice cream and the Chinese settlement on the river, and the kids pan for gold. The steamship Earnslaw across the lake to Walter Peak for a farm show with sheepdogs and shearing.
Three nights. Ice cream at Patagonia on the waterfront, a Fergburger once, a picnic at the lake beach. Then Milford Sound for a night, or Tekapo and Mount Cook on the way to Christchurch.
Planning New Zealand with kids? Start with the full New Zealand family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.
Share this:
Discover more from Adventures We Seek
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.