Fish and Chips at Last

As we drove away from Mt Cook, we were second guessing our decision to stay in Queenstown. Our guidebook emphasized its crowds, tourist shops and party atmosphere—all things we tend to avoid if at all possible.

The book recommended Wānaka as a much calmer and equally pretty alternative, so we decided to check it out along the way. First we drove up the west side of Lake Hāwea, as far as ‘the Neck’- a small stretch of land between Hāwea and Lake Wānaka on the road to the west coast, which we found to be quite beautiful.

We continued on to Wānaka, but found the village quite crowded and busy and despite its scenic setting and attractive lakeside park, we were not enamoured, so proceeded to our planned destination of Queenstown, frankly expecting the worst. To my surprise, Queenstown was quite charming!

The considerable crowds ambling along the almost entirely pedestrianized downtown and lakefront esplanade in the warm evening air, along with the bustling outdoor cafes along the lakeside lent the town an almost European feel.

People enjoying ice cream,  street performers, the buzz of relaxed and happy crowds enjoying themselves, an old paddle steamer plying the lakein the waning light–it was all infectiously delightful, and our misgivings about staying there melted away.

We only had one full day in Queenstown and decided not to ride the uber expensive chairlift or take an uber expensive boat ride on the lake and instead drove up the eastern side of Lake Wakatipu all the way to Glenorchy.

As with all the lakes we had seen in new Zealand, it was stunning, both in color and in the scenery around it.

We stopped several times to enjoy the beauty of our surroundings and had a picnic at a particularly pretty spot not far from Glenorchy (which we were not terribly impressed by).

We got back to Queenstown fairly late and although we had a full kitchen at our accommodation and had eaten in the first night, we went on a quest for gluten free fish and chips, which we had been vainly searching for throughout New Zealand ever since we first arrived two weeks ago. Surprisingly, since they are fairly easy to find in the UK, we had struck out in Paihia, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. (we didn’t even try in Dargaville and Twizel). GF fish and chips did exist in the bigger cities but we didn’t have a car and they were nowhere near where we were staying.

So imagine our delight when we found Erik’s Fish and Chips right down by the waterfront—a pop-up style restaurant with picnic table outdoor seating that sold nothing but gluten free food! We could get several different kinds of fish, regular or sweet potato fries, and lots of other things—all of it gluten free and served out of a tiny caravan. Amazing. It did a great business too- there was a line waiting when we arrived followed by steady stream of new customers as we waited for our order.

We took our meals (which were really delicious) and sat by the lake in the late evening twilight to enjoy our last night in Queenstown, watching the passing parade and very happy we had decided to stay there after all.