If you’re in the mood to work off the Christmas pavlova, you’re spoiled for choice around Queenstown, thanks to the plethora of walking and biking trails.
But if you take a little jaunt right to the very end to the end of Peninsula Rd, at Kelvin Heights (keeping the golf course on your right), you’ll happen upon a discreet entrance to one of the most stunning tracks Wakatipu has to offer.
The Lakeside Trail, which you can also access from Jardine Park, via Poplar Dr, will take you all the way to the Jack’s Point Clubhouse.
Along the way, you’ll encounter a couple of secret gardens, some surprising outdoor seating options, and plenty of park benches from which you can just stop and soak it all in.
Changes to the bus routes make it a little tricky to use public transport to return to Kelvin Heights from there, so if you’re not keen on doing beating the feet again, it’s best to phone a friend to pick you up, or drop a separate vehicle at your end destination.
Graded an easy-intermediate walking track, but intermediate: grade 3 mountain biking, the track itself is fairly flat, with a few gritty uphill and downhill sections and its fair share of tight and blind corners, meaning the odd cyclist you’ll come across if you’re walking tends to take it a bit easier.
Once you’ve got your exercise fix, be sure to pop into Country Lane, in Hansen Rd, opposite the Queenstown Events Centre.
Recent winners of the Queenstown Business Awards’ People’s Choice Award, the owners of the bespoke shopping precinct have given new life to old buildings, including camping ground cabins and a former church, leasing spaces to small local start-up businesses.
They include a coffee roastery, boutique jewellery shop and workroom, where you can also take classes, a vintage and pre-loved clothing business, second-hand book store, patisserie, dog-grooming salon, barber, hairdresser, massage and holistic therapies and the Buzzstop Honey Centre.
For more information, see countrylane.nz
— Tracey Roxburgh
