The Satcher's New Zealand Adventure: Queenstown and TSS Enslaw

2015-03-14

We spent our weekend in beautiful Queenstown, a city of roughly 30000 friendly folk. Queenstown sits on the northern shore and near the middle of Lake Wakatipu. We had picnic dinner on the lake shore on our way to Te Anau and it was nice to get back to the beautiful Southern Lakes District.

Celebrating Pi Day

Jack contemplating his future

Taking in some local rugby

Queenstown hit it big during the gold rush years in the 1860s and there are large sheep stations in the hills around the lake. Our first day in town, we took a cruise on Lake Wakatipu on a very old ship, the TSS Enslaw. The Enslaw was built in Dunedin in 1912, disassembled after completion and shipped to Queenstown. Once there, it was reassembled and put into service on Lake Wakatipu as a passenger and cargo boat where it has remained for 103 years.

Port engine of the Enslaw

One reason we don't burn coal much anymore

The acronym TSS stands for 'twin screw steamer' and it still plies the lake under the power of its original coal fired steam engines. It was a pleasant 45 minute cruise up the lake to a sheep station where we saw working sheep dogs, some interesting livestock and watched a shearing. The return trip to Queenstown was just as nice and it was fascinating to watch the crew stoke and
operate the steam engines.