After the Dunedin Marathon: Queenstown and Central Otago

The Route: Dunedin → Alexandra → Cromwell → Queenstown → Arrowtown → Queenstown Airport Logistics: Hire car, about 3.5 hours inland through Central Otago. Buses and walking in Queenstown. Marathon Month: September Duration: 3 nights

Dunedin ──(approx. 2 hrs, SH1 / SH8)──> Alexandra ──(approx. 30 mins)──> Cromwell ──(approx. 50 mins, Kawarau Gorge)──> Queenstown
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                                               Queenstown Airport (ZQN) ◄──(approx. 15 mins)───────────────────────────────┘

The Dunedin Marathon finishes at Emerson's Brewery in mid-September. Three and a half hours inland, Queenstown sits on the shore of Lake Wakatipu with the Remarkables rising straight out of the water behind it. The drive there crosses Central Otago, the driest region of New Zealand, where the gold rushes of the 1860s left ruins and ghost towns in the tussock hills.

September in Queenstown and Central Otago is the turn of the seasons. The ski fields above Queenstown usually stay open into early October, so late snow is still on the peaks, while in the valleys the fruit orchards around Alexandra and Cromwell come into blossom. Days are crisp and often clear, and nights are cold, frequently below freezing. Queenstown is busy with skiers until the fields close.

Drive west from Dunedin on State Highway 1 and then State Highway 8, through Alexandra and Cromwell and along the Kawarau Gorge to Queenstown. Allow three and a half hours plus stops. Watch for ice on shaded bends early in the morning.

Night One: Central Otago to Queenstown

Alexandra and Clyde, half an hour short of Cromwell, sit in orchard country. Cromwell's old town, rebuilt beside Lake Dunstan after the original was flooded by the Clyde Dam in the 1990s, has a few restored gold-rush buildings along the lakeshore, reached on a flat path.

The Kawarau Gorge road passes vineyards producing Central Otago pinot noir and, near its end, the Kawarau Bridge, where commercial bungy jumping began in 1988. Watching is free.

Night Two: Lake Wakatipu

Queenstown's lakefront is the recovery walk. The path along Lake Wakatipu from the town centre past the wharf and around Queenstown Gardens, on a small peninsula, is flat and paved, with benches looking across the water to the mountains. A loop of the gardens takes 30 minutes.

The Skyline Gondola climbs about 450 m from the town to Bob's Peak in a few minutes, with the view over the lake and the Remarkables from the top. No legs are required. The TSS Earnslaw, a coal-fired steamship launched on the lake in 1912, sails to Walter Peak high-country farm across the water; it is taken out of service for maintenance for part of each year, so check whether it is running in September.

Night Three: Arrowtown

Arrowtown, 20 minutes from Queenstown, was a gold-rush town of the 1860s and keeps its main street of wooden and stone shopfronts, with the restored huts of the Chinese miners' settlement on the edge of town. Both are flat and short walks. The Lakes District Museum on the main street tells the story of the gold fields.

Where to stay: Eichardt's Private Hotel, on the Queenstown waterfront in a building that dates from the gold-rush era, is the town's most central luxury address. Novotel Queenstown Lakeside, a few minutes' walk along the lake, is a more affordable base with the same view.

Where to eat: Fergburger, in the town centre, is the queue every visitor joins at least once: very large burgers, open from early until late. For something slower, the restaurants on Steamer Wharf look over the lake.

Getting to Queenstown Airport

Queenstown Airport (ZQN) is about 15 minutes by car or bus from the town centre, with flights to Auckland, Christchurch and several Australian cities. Mountain weather can delay flights in and out; do not book a tight onward connection.