But the tranquil waters of Bobs Cove owe their existence to an ancient sea.
During the Cenozoic Age, between 20 and 40 million years ago, a shallow body of water known as the Moonlight Sea penetrated from the southwest as far as the Wakatipu.
It was caused by an uplift of the eastern side of the Moonlight fault, which continues to be active today.
Department of Conservation Queenstown regional visitor centre supervisor Andrew Evans said the fault moved as geologically recently as 8000 years ago at Mt Nicholas and was linked with massive earthquake activity at the time.
"It shows the continuing power of Moonlight fault action, and geologists believe it will continue to have an effect in shaping the basin."
Bobs Cove, off the road to Glenorchy, is the best preserved example of Queenstown's coastal past, Mr Evans said.
The terraces in the area contain fossils and shells, as well as bands of mottled limestone up to 200m thick, which are easily visible from the highway.
Southern Maori used the cove, or Te Punatapu, as a permanent camp site and food source, on the way to the Dart River on pounamu expeditions.
During the gold rush, transport was by boat from Kingston.
The steamship Earnslaw, commissioned in 1912, maintained a regular service to Glenorchy and Bobs Cove was a popular stop. Picnickers would spend the day there.
"Subsequently, a bridle path was developed between Queenstown and Glenorchy, which passed through the cove and allowed cheaper movement to and from the head of Lake Wakatipu," Mr Evans said.
The main access to Bobs Cove is by a signposted car park 15km from the resort on the Queenstown-Glenorchy Rd.
A 20 minute, easily-graded nature trail descends from the car park to the lakefront and Bobs Cove itself, a beautiful, sheltered bay, overlooked by Picnic Pt.
The Wakatipu Lime Company built seven lime kilns there in the 1880s but only one survives. Lime from the mine was used to build the old Queenstown courthouse and the existing Kawarau River suspension bridge.
Mr Evans said two other tracks branched off the nature trail.
"For a longer walking experience, you can take the bridle track, which is part of the original packing route between Queenstown and Glenorchy, and continues for a further 3km to White Point, through one of the last surviving stands of mature red beech in the Wakatipu."
Continuing in the opposite direction around Picnic Point, walkers will be rewarded with views of the Remarkables, as the track follows the lakefront to Twelve Mile Delta.
It is a 4km extension from Bobs Cove.
It would take walkers about two hours to reach the Twelve Mile Delta car park, Mr Evans said.
"This is premier lakefront walking, through variable remnant native forest, such as manuka, kowhai and totara. "The Bobs Cove walk encapsulates fascinating history, geology and varied native vegetation," Mr Evans said.
