Belinda Henley: Queen of a town

Other than Hawke's Bay, I think my favourite place in New Zealand has to be Queenstown. What's not to love about it? With spectacular natural beauty, endless things to do and incredible eating/drinking spots it is, for those of us who have lived overseas, one of the few places this side of the world you can go and feel part of a bigger, global community.

The jewel in Queenstown's crown is the annual Winter Festival. As I had not been for more than 10 years, I was keen to see how the event had developed in that time.

I landed early in the morning (the most spectacular arrival to any airport anywhere) and headed straight to Vudu Café and Larder for one of its excellent coffees.Z

There was a palpable buzz in the air, Queenstown brimming not only with visitors but locals keen to get out and about and support festival events.

My first activity was to jump off a cliff from the Shotover Canyon Swing. Established almost 10 years ago, it is more than 100 metres high and has more than 70 ways of launching in varying degrees of scariness.

My jumpmasters, Dougie and Crispy, said I would first plummet off the platform backwards, on the "chair of death", then - giving their newest innovation a go - shoot down a short slide off the platform to give me extra speed and propulsion out into the canyon.

If jumping off a cliff doesn't go against every natural instinct in your body, then going backwards while strapped to a chair certainly does - but there I was, rocking my way back off the edge and into a 60-metre freefall.

It is exhilarating and completely different from a bungy jump. Once you go into the "swing" arc, you are upright and able to enjoy the spectacular views.

In comparison, going down the slide was a piece of cake, perhaps because by this point I had already made one jump and survived. Going feet first felt natural and the extra speed you get as you come down the slide is awesome.

Later that evening, I checked out local ice hockey team Southern Stampede taking on close rivals Dunedin.

For those of you who haven't seen ice hockey, you must. It is noisy, violent, highly skilled and seems largely lawless, especially when they drop their gloves and lay into each other.

Dinner that night was at the Botswana Butchery, a restaurant I have visited before.

Renowned for its perfectly cooked cuts of beef, I asked the chef to bring me out more of his signature dishes.

We had a selection of entrees, including deliciously light and flavourful Spanish-style whitebait served with chilli and a salmon gravalax.

One of my favourite dishes, Peking duck pancakes with their own hoisin sauce, was served expertly.

My main consisted of duck and a range of sides, including the restaurant's incredibly bad, but oh so good, duck fat potatoes, sweet parsnips and a beetroot salad with goat cheese and hazelnuts.

Dessert was a new addition to the menu: apple strudel served with apple crumble and a near-perfect cr?me brulee.

Ultimately, the festival is all about celebrating winter and the beginning of the ski season. And one of the best things about it is the number of activities on offer for the locals, which garner their whole-hearted support.

I headed up to Coronet Peak, which I hadn't visited for many years, and was impressed at the modernity of the facilities, from hiring gear and buying passes to the chairlifts and the quality of the runs.

It was a stunning day with great snow and, after last year's late ski season, ski field operators are basking in the glow of this early offering.

Another excursion I managed to cross off my bucket list was a scenic flight with The Helicopter Line to the glaciers.

The ride up goes over Queenstown, the Shotover River and Canyon, Coronet Peak and some of the most remarkable landscapes and scenery I have ever seen.

Twenty minutes later, we landed on Jura Glacier and spent 10 minutes exploring.

You literally feel like you are on top of the world and you kind of are - 8000 feet up, to be precise, with views right across to the West Coast.

The Thriller in the Chiller, the annual black tie charity boxing event, sells out each year with almost 1500 locals turning out to support their friends, neighbours and colleagues fighting in 11 bouts. It's a slick night out.

One of the best additions to the Queenstown offering is the Kawarau Village development, home to one of my favourite hotels - the Hilton, which is best accessed via water taxi from the centre of town.

Bathed in sunlight all day and with warmer temperatures than other parts of Queenstown, it offers a different perspective on the lake and mountains, and has several accommodation, food and drink options.

I enjoyed a special jazz brunch that chef Peter Thornley was putting on as part of the festival.

Thornley moved to Queenstown to open the Wakatipu Grill and has a passionate commitment to sourcing local fresh and seasonal ingredients.

For brunch, he was offering an entrée of Eggs Lemuel Benedict, followed by a plateful of delicious scallops with chorizo and all washed down with a chilled Central Otago pinot gris. It was an amazing way to start the day.

The festival finishes with a mardi gras which sees the centre of town overrun with stalls offering a great range of food and drinks.

With below-zero temperatures, conditions were perfect for mulled wine, along with four hours of live music and entertainment.

The last night in Queenstown also brought with it my best dining experiences at Josh Emett's new restaurant, Rata.

I had heard great things about it and went along with two friends to see if it would live up to the hype.

The meal was quite outstanding. Highlights included goat cheese profiteroles served with rata honey, also a white onion and thyme soup with wild mushrooms (Josh promised it would be the best soup we had ever tasted and he was right).

His chocolate fondant, which I had the pleasure of tasting at Maze in London, was out of this world, with hints of mint and served with salted almond ice cream.

I made sure my final few hours in Queenstown were put to good use.

I headed across to Wanaka for a 15-minute helicopter ride into the high country and Minaret Lodge.

Opened just 15 months ago, it is New Zealand's first luxury tented lodge, established by the Wallis family.

Drawing inspiration from some of the luxury "camping" on offer in Africa, Minaret Lodge is like nothing I had experienced before.

Set amid stunning mountain backdrops, each suite has its own hot tub and private deck.

Meals are taken in a shared dining room and lounge with a roaring fire.

It was one of the most peaceful and jaw-droppingly beautiful places I have ever been to.

A range of experiences is on offer. During winter, heli-skiing is a major draw while in summer there is hiking, hunting and fishing.

While I can only hope one day to return for an overnight stay, this time I had to be content with a day trip and a "mountain kitchen" experience.

Lunch was cauliflower and bacon soup served with fat, juicy prawns, then baked salmon with ginger rice and bok choy and a warm custard topped with a blueberry compote - comfort cooking at its best.

The luxury and attention to detail is all the more extraordinary given the lodge's location in one of the most remote parts of New Zealand.

It was a whirlwind four days in the south and I am certain I could not have packed one more thing into my trip.

But I do know that I'm already counting down to my next one.