Queenstown emerges from lockdown
15/05/2020
Following our nationwide lockdown, we opened our doors earlier than normal to sell ex-rental skis, snowboards and boots to those in Queenstown looking forward to a winter season. Never doing this before, we were blown away by the support of the local community, especially on opening day! We had a line down the street and were featured on the Queenstown App. Please read the following feature below, written by Paul Taylor on 14 May 2020.
Queenstown slowly awoke from its seven-week lockdown slumber this morning with many businesses reopening, people on the streets and the first scheduled flight at the airport.
While a far cry from the report at its busiest, hundreds of people were milling around downtown enjoying the sun on the first day of alert level 2.
Our of town retail parks, such as Frankton’s Five Miles, and the roads surrounding were relatively busy, while scores of parents and children headed for reopened playgrounds in the suburbs.
But while many shop have reopened, some tourism-specific businesses, such as booking agents and some rental car firms, remain closed.
There were also only 31 passengers on the first scheduled Air New Zealand flight, NZ5473 which arrived from Christchurch at about 11.40am. There’s another due to land at 3.25pm this afternoon.
One downtown business was doing a roaring trade, with queues out the door.
Camp Street’s Snow Rental store held the first day of its snowsports ex-rental gear sale.
Shop worker Josh Wainwright said: “It’s been manic. People have been queueing since 9.30 Obviously with the Covid restrictions, we’re only letting a few in at once, but even so it’s been a queue down the street. Everyone’s really enthusiastic about the season. Our customers have been a mix of nationalities, that’s Queenstown, it’s a diverse place to be and that’s what I really like about it.”
Josie Timms, from the UK, and Canadian Tom Woodhurst, were among the customers. “We’re excited about the season,” Timms says. “We’ve been here just over a year, my first season I borrowed a snowboard so I thought I’d get my own this year. We’ve got a ski pass so the plan is to stay. We both work in restaurants. Hopefully we keep our jobs, but we’ve got money saved, so we can spend our days snowboarding.”
NZSki confirmed yesterday it intends to open both its Queenstown mountains, Coronet Peak in June, and The Remarkables in July. It will also open Canterbury’s Mt. Hutt.
It’s now nearly a month since the last new case of Covid-19 in the Queenstown Lakes District. There have been no new cases nationally for three days, including today.