On our first full day in Queenstown, we decided to take the gondola up the side of one of the surrounding peaks. Here you can see the space cleared for views out the condola windows.
On our way up, we got a good view Lake Wakatipu and the bays bordering Queenstown.
Arriving at the top to the gondola are shops and more shops. In a hallway are these creations made of Jelly Belly jelly beans. The American Gothic was made with over 20,000 jelly beans. The one with Frodo and the Ring was about the same. I don't know how many flavors it took.
Here we are on the dedicated selfie platform with marked places to stand. We only used two of the four standing places.
Lake Wakatipu really is a lovely lake (at about the same parallel as Torch Lake.) As it has been cooling down, there has not been as much activity on the water as you might expect.
We spent quite a few hours up on the mountain, watching paragliders jump off the edge of the mountain, watching people of all ages zip down two concrete luge courses. In the later afternoon, we went down to the nearer peninsula to the Queen's Garden and watched bowlers, Frisbee golf, marveled at the sequoias, and then had dinner just off the public beaches.
Toward the evening, activities on the Queenstown beach quieted down and gave time for some contemplative moments.