Queenstown, 2018

Queenstown can wow you, as it did us in 2009. In 2014, it was more of an old friend. (Just enter Queenstown in the search box for my several 2009 and 2014 posts; not to be missed is my Birth of Venus pose at the Basket of Dreams, Queenstown Hill).  In 2018, it was more of an old friend who has greatly changed. We checked into the favored Lakeview campground, did the wash, then walked down the hill to the downtown, mostly unchanged, and shopped our favorite shops...Kathmandu, Global Culture, Torpedo 7. A pizza dinner. Though the downtown area is still recognizable, its surroundings are vastly changed, back through Frankton, and across the lake too. Aspenization is not fully realized, but it is well underway. New Zealand is not a wealthy country. One wonders who will inhabit the thousands of new condo units. In any case, the weather was turning from warm to hot as a heat wave of historic proportions engulfed the island. We decided to head toward Antarctica...

In the Crown range

Above Queenstown and beautiful Lake Wakatipu; note jetliner
taking off from airport

Street scene

Ditto; an incredibly international place

Best Asian grocery in this part of the world

BBQ!

Concert in the square