Earnslaw Park

Earnslaw Park is the open ground on the Queenstown waterfront, between the town centre and the lake, named for the TSS Earnslaw that berths just along from it. It is not big and it is not a garden — it is a well-placed piece of grass in the middle of everything, which is exactly what makes it useful.

On a warm day it fills up with people eating lunch on the grass and watching the boats. It is the obvious place to sit with a coffee or a Fergburger, and there is nothing to pay and nothing to book.

The Saturday market

A craft market runs here every Saturday, year-round — something like forty-five local makers, with pottery, jewellery, leatherwork and prints. It is genuinely local rather than imported souvenirs, and it is the best place in town to buy something made within fifty kilometres of where you are standing.

Two others worth knowing about: the Remarkables Market at Frankton on Saturday mornings from September to April, which leans towards food, and the Arrowtown Farmers Market at Buckingham Green on Sundays from October to April.

Events

The park is used through the year for public events, and it is one of the sites for the Queenstown Winter Festival in June — which turns this end of the waterfront into the middle of the party for a few days.

Nearby

Steamer Wharf and the TSS Earnslaw are next door, Queenstown Gardens is a fifteen-minute walk around the bay, and Queenstown Hill starts a few streets up the hill if you want a view.