Queenstown · Things to do

The gondola climbs Bob's Peak from a station five minutes' walk from the town centre, open daily from 9am till late, with a Stratosfare restaurant and Kiwi Haka performances at the top. Luge including gondola is 36 dollars for adults and 26 for children 5-14; you must ride the Scenic track first each day.

The 43-metre jump off the historic road bridge over the Kawarau River, about 320 dollars including photos, video and a shirt, with the Bungy Bus running out from Queenstown. Watching from the viewing platform costs nothing, which is a legitimate way to spend an hour.

Jetboat runs through the narrow Shotover canyons at up to 90kph, leaving from Shotover Jet Beach at 3 Arthurs Point Road, about ten minutes from town. Owned by Ngāi Tahu; a family pass for two adults and two children is around 507 dollars, so it is a once-per-trip item.

The 1912 coal-fired steamship still crosses Lake Wakatipu from Steamer Wharf; you can walk down to the engine room mid-crossing. A 1.5-hour return cruise starts around 115 dollars, or 139 and up for the 3-hour-45 farm tour at Walter Peak station on the far shore.

Twenty minutes from Queenstown, a preserved 1860s gold-rush town on Buckingham Street. The museum at number 49 opens 09:00-17:00 every day except Christmas, 14 dollars for adults and 6 for school-age children, and the restored Chinese settlement along the creek is free to walk through.