Queenstown

Queenstown: Where NOT to go

Tom Walter
Queenstown Insider
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Signpost at Glenorchy (Photo: Holger Leue / Lonely Planet Images)
Signpost at Glenorchy
"Full of backpackers hell-bent on getting blotto, uninhibited teen hormones and generally cheesy tunes. Don't expect an enlightening cultural experience or a pleasant day after!"
 
Tom Walter
Queenstown Insider

This is a tough one due to the fact that with extremely high rents, high staff turnover and the transient nature of the place, businesses, activities and events that do not provide high-quality products or services don't last very long at all. That said, here are a few that come to mind.

World Bar

Full of backpackers hell-bent on getting blotto, uninhibited teen hormones and generally cheesy tunes. Don't expect an enlightening cultural experience or a pleasant day after!

The "Visitors Centres"

Situated on all four corners of Shotover and Camp Streets, these are little more than booking agencies in disguise, where earning commissions is the name of the game. Be brave — jump online, check out the individual operator's Web offerings, go to travellers' forums and get some independent perspectives on what's hot and what's not. Check out the 'Awesome links' section for some more obscure gems.

Food shopping

It is a bug-bear for many locals and travellers alike. My advice is:

  • Avoid the Alpine Supermarket — they provide the opposite of reasonable prices and good selection.
  • Fresh Choice supermarket is conveniently located on Gorge Road and only five minutes walk from town. However, expect to pay a premium for its proximity and not what you can buy there.

My tip is the Mediterranean Market — while still pricy, the quality of produce is the best around: good fresh fruit and veg and they make a commitment to stock organic produce, locally sourced products and whole foods. Their anti-plastic-bag campaign provides a visual reminder to think about what you buy in terms of waste. Good café inside too, if you want to break up the shopping.

Destination Organic at the end of Camp Street offers great products but you'll pay a premium for them.

On the alcoholic beverage front, Betty's Liquor Stores falls into the same category of convenience at a premium, although they do offer locals rates if you can prove you're more than just a holidaymaker.

My hot tip (especially if you have access to a vehicle) is to shop at Remarkables Park in Frankton where the New World has the best selection of food and a whole aisle of alcohol at the best prices. You can take the bus from the middle of town to the middle of the shopping centre — don't forget your reusable shopping bags!

Next: Near the beaten track

Got any more places to avoid? Have your say using the comments form below:

 
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User comments
People DONT listen ! Queenstown IS Beautiful ! A group of us went for a week & couldnt get enough of Queenstown. Yes it's expensive BUT so are the Alpine destinations here in OZ. AS far as the night life we loved it, it was different. But that's what we set out to experience something different. If you expect what your used to eveywhere you go DONT LEAVE HOME! Queenstown should be on everybodies bucket list ! PS. Wanaka is beautiful too !
Mr Global - why did you stay to endure that mash-up 10 times? Should you not have taken a principled stance and removed your sophisticated ears from the vicinity? It's a free market and so the customer sets the tone. If you were shamelessly skirt-chasing in the club all night, then you've got your libido to blame for that club's poor repertoir of sounds. You endorsed it with your patronage. Other readers should bear in mind that Queenstown is a TOWN. There are 14,000 residents (and most of them are temps). If you do the maths, you'll rightly deduce that those numbers aren't large enough to support the full gambit of sub-cultures. In fact it's barely enough to support kiwi culture (for example, I don't think a kiwi dub band has ever played a Queenstown bar). It would be good if a club owner showed the balls to set up a genuine bar because it would reap dividends but the lowest common denominator prevails when courting the twinky market...as evidenced by Dee Global's story.
Avoid this place it's one giant rip off. When I flinched at the price of something last year the shopkeeper shrugged and said it's Queenstown as if that justified the price. By all means go to the south island it's beautifull just avoid Queenstown
As both a travel writer and member of electronic music bands and DJ collectives for some decades or so now, I was surprised that out of all the places I've traveled and played in the world, the World Bar in Queenstown had some of the worst DJ'ing I've ever seen. How can a spindly and obscure looking Cambodian spin drum'n'bass on the beaches of Sihanoukville with the ease of a Bristol bad bwoy, yet a European DJ in the booth of a Queenstown nightclub visibly cringe every time he was forced to trainwreck one piece of unrelated music into another at the peak time set of a bustling club? Set your expectations for night life about as high as, say, your woolen socks, and everything should be okay. Otherwise, use humour to deal with the shock. If, like us, you hear *that* remix of "Sweet Dreams" played by the same DJ at least 10 times during the night, consider an early night to bed. You are, after all, there for the scenery and ski fields, not the quality of the purveyors of beats and bass.

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