Eichardt's Private Hotel was opened 140 years ago when the gold rush hit Queenstown. It's named after Albert Eichardt who took sole ownership of the hotel in 1869 ... 3 years after opening it with William Gilbert Rees. At one stage there were 71 rooms in the hotel - there are now just 5 suites in the hotel ... all stunning! This hotel IS small but perfectly and I really do mean perfectly formed.

Anyway - woke up in Suite 5 - the sun was shining over Lake Wakatipu ... I could see the snow clearly on the mountain-tops. Awesome!

So - rather than "arrive" by car - I took a water taxi. I am pleased that I didn't fall in the Lake getting onto the shore as it looked VERY cold!

First up - The Hotel Bar - which was refurbished in 2000 after a serious flood destroyed that part of the hotel in November 1999. The gorgeous Shia Burton prepared the Eichardt's Mule for me - lime, ginger, locally grown fresh mint, ginger wine, local vodka and ginger beer! Yum .. & that's just the cocktail! ha!

Then we filmed possibly the most fun General Manager interview in nearly a decade of doing these shows. The GM - Victoria Shaw is "awesome" or "sweet as" ... I believe that means she rocks! Her staff love her, she loves her hotel and it shows. She took me on an tour of the property while answering questions about Queenstown, The South Island and of course the hotel itself.

We then filmed a a tapas dish with the hotel executive chef - Michael Barker. The hotel serves breakfast, lunch and tapas for dinner. He prepared a whitebait dish that was rather tasty. Tim chewed whitebait raw .. he looked rather sickly for quite a while! ha!

I then moved into Suite 1 (from number 5) as the view is so lovely and the suite is the oldest in the hotel and therefore has a fabulous story. Original beams, wood flooring and walls are still here to see ... the current owners have added an open fireplace, large bathrooms, comfy bed & lounge.

The Lake is currently 8 degrees. James & I were dared to go for a swim by Tim .. so we did. The onlookers thought we were bonkers ... WE ARE!

I am rather cold ... so I will now warm up, have some dinner and sleep. Tomorrow is going to be fabulous - if the weather holds!

Song of the Day: Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children - Queen Latifah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNVp56AkKak

Weather: Very changeable!

morning view of lake wakatipu

eichardt's hotel ...

arrival by water taxi

cocktail extraordinaire shia burton

general manager - and lovely lady - victoria shaw

chef michael barker

running into the lake

diving into the lake

my lounge/bedroom

bedroom/lounge

changing area

bathroom