Queenstown has been lots of fun ...a pretty relaxed couple of days.

Yesterday we took a 90 minute ride on the TSS Earnslaw, an old coal-powered steamship that used to make runs with cargo for the high-country sheep stations (ranches).  It's been recently restored and now makes tourist runs.  I particularly wanted to see it because my mother's father used to take the RMS Segwun,a coal-powered steamship at Muskoka (Ontario), selling men's clothing in the small communities around the lake.  I've been on the Segwun and was interested to see how similar the Earnslaw was.  They turn out to be similar in many ways. Here's a photo of the Earnslaw.

Then we spent some time walking around the lovely city gardens, first following the beach around the peninsula and then cutting through the center to see the rose garden, lily pond, fountain, bowling green, etc.  It's so neat to have the mountains all around us wherever we go in Queenstown.

Today we decided to skip the planned winery tours and instead went to a cheesery: the Gibbston Valley Cheese Company. Had a wonderful lunch with 5 kinds of cheese, various crackers and breads, grapes, quince paste (like jam but less sweet), 2 kinds of pesto, hummus, dried apricots, and a rose for decoration.  Much fun.

Both yesterday and tonight we ate at a quaint tapas place called The Bath House Cafe right on the beach in Queenstown, overlooking the harbor with an old America's Cup boat. Most restaurants in NZ serve far too much food ... we take left-overs home even when we just have an appetizer.  So tapas is a great solution for us.

Because the weather was so lovely the past couple of days, we also spent a lot of time just sitting by the water in various places and reading.  Very relaxing and much fun.

We're off tomorrow morning for Fox Glacier.