Queenstown

Queenstown

·       Introduction

Queenstown (Māori: Tāhuna)is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It has AN urban population of fifteen,850 (June 2018), making it the 27th-largest urban area in New Zealand. In 2016, Queenstown overtook Oamaru to become the second-largest geographical area in Otago, behind Dunedin.

The city is made around AN body of water referred to as Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long, thin, Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has views of nearby mountains such as The Remarkables, Cecil Peak, Walter Peak and just above the town, Ben Lomond and Queenstown Hill.

The Queenstown-Lakes District has a land area of 8,704.97 square kilometres (3,361.01 sq mi) not counting its inland lakes (Lake Hāwea, Lake Wakatipu, and Lake Wanaka). The region has AN calculable resident population of thirty-nine,100 (June 2018).Neighbouring towns include Arrowtown, Glenorchy, Kingston, Wanaka, Alexandra, and Cromwell. The nearest cities are Dunedin and Invercargill. Queenstown is understood for its commerce-oriented commercial enterprise, especially adventure and ski tourism.

·        History

·        Māori settlement and presence

The area was discovered and first settled by Māori before non-Māori arrived. The first non-Māori to examine Lake Wakatipu was European Nathanael Chalmers WHO was target-hunting by Reko, the chief of the Tuturau, over the Waimea Plains and up the Mataura River in Sep 1853.Evidence of stake nets, baskets for catching eels, spears and ashes indicated the Glenorchy area was visited by Māori. It is doubtless Ngāi Tahu Māori visited Queenstown on the way to gather Pounamu (greenstone). A settlement referred to as Te Kirikiri Pa was occupied by the tribe of Kāti Māmoe that was placed wherever the Queenstown Gardens ar these days, however by the time European migrants arrived in the 1860s this settlement was no longer being used.

·       Subsequent European settlers

European explorers William Gilbert Rees and saint von Tunzelmann were the primary non-Maoris to settle the world. Rees established a high country farm in the location of Queenstown's current town centre in 1860, but the discovery of gold in the Arrow River in 1862 encouraged Rees to convert his wool shed into a hotel named the Queen's Arms, now known as Eichardt's.[6] Many Queenstown streets bear names from the gold mining era (such as Camp Street) and some historic buildings remain. William's bungalow, the Lake Lodge of Ophir, Queenstown Police Station, and St Peter's Anglican Church lie close together in a designated historic precinct.

·       Naming

There ar varied apocryphal accounts of however Queenstown was named, however the following is the most likely:

When William Rees 1st arrived within the space and engineered his homestead, the area was known as The Station although miners soon referred to it as The Camp from 1860 to 1862.[citation needed]

The miners, and particularly the Irish, had taken AN interest within the ceremony control for alittle city known as Cobh in eire that was renamed Queenstown in honour of Queen Victoria in 1850. they'll have had their own ceremony at the intersection of Rees and Beach Streets replicating a number of the weather within the renaming of Irish people city.

Subsequent to this a public meeting was control for the aim of naming the territorial division on the lake in Gregorian calendar month 1863 (probably the weekend of the third and 4th) in which the city was formally given the name of Queenstown in relevance Ireland's Queenstown. By nine and ten Gregorian calendar month 1863 the city was being rumored with the name of Queenstown from many reports written by a correspondent within the Otago Witness on Monday the 5th and Tuesday the 6th. It was during the meeting there may have been a reference by a miner of the town being "fit for a Queen" (this is one of the foremost widespread accounts of however the city was named).

Tāhuna, the Māori-language name for Queenstown, means "shallow bay"

·       Climate

Because of its comparatively moderate altitude (310 metres) and high mountain surroundings, Queenstown has AN oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). Summer has long heat days with temperatures that may reach thirty °C whereas winters ar cold with temperatures typically in single digits with frequent precipitation, though there's no permanent snow cowl throughout the year. As with the remainder of Central Otago, Queenstown lies within the rain shadow of the Southern Alps, but being closer to the west coast the town is more susceptible to rain-bearing fronts compared to close Oliver Cromwell, Wanaka and Alexandra. The hottest recorded temperature in Queenstown is 34.1 °C (93 °F), while the coldest is −8.4 °C (17 °F)

·       Festivals

Queenstown has many festivals.Examples include the Bike Festival (March/April), Winter Festival (June),, Jazz Festival (October), and Winter Pride (September) which is the largest winter pride event in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sports and recreation

Queenstown Events Centre and stadium

Paragliding or Hang Gliding

Aerobatics with the Wakatipu Aero Clubat Queenstown Airport at Frankton

Golf at Millbrook Resort, Jack's Point, or Queenstown Golf Club

Disc golf at the Queenstown Gardens

Tennis at the Queenstown court game Clubin Queenstown Gardens

Cricket at the Queenstown Cricket Club

Netball at the Wakatipu Netball Centre

Rugby league and football union at the Wakatipu football League Club burial site

Touch rugby during the summer season

Scuba diving or snorkeling in a river, bridge wreck, or in Lake Wakatipu

Adventure sport, canyon-swing, parachute, jetboat, bungy jump, river-surf, or kitesurf

·       In the Area

Central Otago region

Central Otago wine region

History of the Central Otago Gold Rush

Milford Road, Milford Sound / Homer Tunnel, the Fiordland Lakes / uncertain Sound

Tramping track near Glenorchy

Routeburn, one of the New Zealand Great Walks