As the Rugby World Cup heads for the business end – with the quarter finals being played in Auckland and Wellington this weekend – fans from around the world are using the days in between matches to explore New Zealand.
Queenstown has become Little Dublin, with Irish banter booming all around town. In one waterfront bar, a veteran Irish rugby fan tells me he is travelling around New Zealand with his 85-year-old pal. “I’m babysitting him,†he jokes.
Along with the Irish, the French appear to be the next biggest group of rugby fans in town, followed by the South Africans and the English. The atmosphere is boisterous but friendly as the build up to the finals gathers pace.
Queenstown, New Zealand’s adventure capital, has plenty of quality accommodation, from high end to backpacker hostels. We stay at the new Hilton Hotel which cuddles Lake Wakatipu alongside the Kawarau Hotel, also managed by Hilton.
A water taxi connects the hotel with central Queenstown and at NZ$15 for the return journey it’s a great way to reach town in about 12 minutes.
We hire a car and head out of Queenstown to historic Arrowtown, where we chat over coffee to an English couple who are motor-homing around South Island before heading up to Auckland for England’s quarter final against France.
From Arrowtown, we head off across New Zealand’s highest mountain road to Lake Wanaka, stopping off en route to look at one of New Zealand’s oldest pubs, the Cardrona Hotel.
Dropping down into Wanaka reminds us of Banff in British Colombia, with snow-capped mountains providing a spectacular backdrop to a lake tinged blue by glacial waters.
A late ploughman’s lunch accompanied by a bottle of Gibbston Valley blanc de pinor noir gives us to time to drive the goat track to Chard Valley winery, another of the Otago region’s outstanding wine producers.
The winery sits high above the AJ Hackett bungy jump outside of Queenstown and we pause to watch a couple of young men leap off the bridge and swing wildly above the ravine.
Next, we’ll swing onto Auckland for RWC the quarter-finals.
