Queenstown: the town so nice, we stayed there twice.

I fell in love with Queenstown at first sight. Beyond the amazing nature that surrounds the quaint city, it has everything you could ever want, including restaurants, bars, coffee joints, art galleries, clothing stores, a movie theater, cute shops, spas, and even a casino. (Confession: Mike and I both squealed with delight when we saw there was a Lululemon.) Overall, Queenstown felt like a blend of a few of my favorite places, including Boulder, CO, and Mont Tremblant, Quebec.

Sadly not pictured: the epic pies at Fergbaker, equally epic (world famous) burgers at Fergburger, the lakefront promenade with chocolate shops and quirky street performers.  

Queenstown is also a special place because it's where we met up with our second round of visitors, Joyce and Arthur. (Remember them? They've been mentioned on this blog before. Their house in Big Pine Key is a Peres family vacation favorite.) 

Old family friends, Joyce & Arthur have literally known Mike since he was born. 

The four of us explored the Queenstown area for a few days, including a few short hikes around charming Arrowtown and a big hike day on NZ's prominent Routeburn Track.

Originally, we wanted to do the entire track, which takes your average hiker anywhere between two and four days to complete. However, because we weren't sure what dates would work until about a month before arriving in NZ, by the time we went to book bunks in the Routeburn huts, they were sold out. Despite that setback, we knew we needed to see at least part of the track, so we set out from the Queenstown side and hiked to the falls and back in one day (about 12 miles when all was said and done).

There were sore feet all around, but the views were worth it.