Get ready to marvel at this adventure town of the South Island. Seeing it in a rental car in New Zealand is a totally refreshing experience.

For me, this is also the home of luxury New Zealand accommodation. There are a couple of routes to Queenstown, South Island if you are coming from the West Coast in your rental car in New Zealand.

Highway 6 is a easier drive all the way from Wanaka to Queenstown; the drive is less than 2 hours. You will drive around the edge of Lake Dunstan, bypassing Cromwell, through Kawarau River Gorge, then into Gibbston Valley and then to Queenstown.

Alternatively, you can travel via Crown Range; it’s a winding uphill drive which takes a slightly shorter traveling time. On our way to Queenstown, we stopped by at the A.J. Hackett’s Kawarau Suspension Bridge, the world’s first commercial bungy operation – the ‘original’.

You don’t have to bungy to visit. You get a nice view of the rushing waters of the Kawarau River. It’s equally fun to share the excitement of the jumpers too. Alex did his river surfing here at the Kawarau river! There’s a good selection of A.J. Hackett gear if you like to do some shopping.