Queenstown: the adventure capital of the world

The Skyline Gondola rises in minutes to a scenic overlook suspended above the city, from which the entire Lake Wakatipu is dominated framed by the snow-capped peaks of the Remarkables.

The Kawarau Bridge, just outside the city, was the world's first bridge permanently equipped for commercial bungee jumping, opened in 1988 by New Zealander A.J. Hackett.

The TSS Earnslaw, a steam-powered riverboat in service since 1912 on Lake Wakatipu, still today carries visitors toward historic farming stations on the opposite shore, fueled by the same coal as in its era.

The lakeside of Queenstown, with its public gardens and wooden docks, remains the most tranquil point of the day between one extreme activity and another.

The Kawarau Bridge, which in 1988 transformed a leap into the void into a commercial attraction later replicated around the world, remains the most direct symbol of the identity Queenstown has built since then.

The TSS Earnslaw, slow and coal-powered in an age of high-adrenaline sports, reminds instead that the same city can still offer a completely different pace to those who seek it.