I love to travel. I'm lucky in that I've been to many exotic places, but one that never interested me was New Zealand. For a start, I'm a wuss and it's the home of adventure sport. It's where everyone goes for their first bungee jump or skydive, where they queue up to try river surfing, white water rafting, jet boating, free falling and other high-speed thrills. Hell, I come out in a sweat at the mention of a cable car.

However, when I was promised the chance to experience a more relaxed side of New Zealand, reluctantly I went, thinking it's very far to go for a short time -- a week first in Thailand and another seven nights in Queenstown on New Zealand's South Island. The good news is that I've discovered that, with a good airline -- I travelled with the excellent Thai Airways -- at least one night's stopover in a halfway place such as Bangkok, good movies, good books and judicious use of sleeping pills to keep you at the same time as everyone in the places you visit, it can work perfectly.

Not that I wouldn't have loved to stay longer because, to my surprise, I found much to love about Queenstown. Yes, it is a great place for adventure sports and, because of the spectacular mountain ranges, it's a year-round thing -- in their winter, the tourists change from high divers and hikers to skiers and snowboarders -- but those same mountains render the area breathtakingly beautiful. Add to the mix the many lakes, rivers and forests, and you find yourself perpetually awestruck. It's even better in real life than in the Lord of the Rings movies which were made there. Complete the blend with the boho feel of the place and you have a super holiday destination.

Queenstown is a great base for exploring. Set on the edge of Lake Wakatipu, it's a young town in a young country; New Zealand has only been inhabited since 1200 AD when the Maoris arrived. European settlers followed 400 years later. There was no Queenstown until the 19th century -- when gold was discovered, prospectors came in their droves. The town then developed its reputation for adventure and hotels like the one I stayed in -- the recently refurbished Novotel Lakeside, which is excellent -- sprang up. Queenstown retains the low-key charm of a prospecting town -- there is no high rise -- and while it's not at all chic, it has all the qualities you want in a holiday destination: good shops, terrific yet well-priced restaurants and quirky cafes, each with their own unique personality. We enjoyed Habebes -- a vegetarian cafe owned by a delightful kiwi called Anne who makes yummy falafels and brownies. There is also Vudu, where pancakes are the thing; Patagonia, which serves homemade exotic chocolates; and William's cottage, Queenstown's oldest home, now a cafe and design shop. The Bunker is to be recommended, especially for its game dishes and its orange cake. There are also lots of specialist shops selling hiking and skiing gear, souvenir shops selling sheep-related items and jewellery made from the Paui shell.

There are big must-sees within driving distance of Queenstown, such as the spectacular Milford Sound in the heart of New Zealand's Fiordland -- but I preferred to get a feel for the local landscape and the personality of the people and concentrated on driving to the nearby towns; places like Arrowtown, another former mining town which comes complete with a mining museum. Many of the original tree-lined avenues and wooden houses have been preserved and it's very pretty.

A short walk from the town lie the remains of a Chinese settlement with a poignant history. In the 1850s, hearing of the gold rush, 8,000 Chinese left lives of poverty to chase gold. They set up in little stone dwellings just outside the town. While initially welcomed, when they began to be successful, locals turned on them and the media described them as "almond eyed leprosy-infected nuisances". Soon, a heavy levy was imposed on Chinese people entering NZ. Wandering through the settlement, now a ghost town with just some ruins, old photos and newspaper archives, makes for a heartbreaking experience. The NZ government apologised to the Chinese in 2003. If driving from Queenstown to another nearby town, Glenorchy, Little Paradise, a cute guesthouse, is well worth a visit not only for the owners' (Swiss native Thomas and his Filipino wife Christy) coffee and cake, but also to appreciate their idiosyncratic craftwork. Thomas uses granite, stones, logs and wire to create the most unusual furniture, and animal skins -- ferrets, possums and sheep -- cover the floors.

Outside, there are wacky signposts measuring distances to capitals all over the world, and they sell their home-grown walnuts on an honesty basis -- just help yourself and leave the money.

Glenorchy is a delight and the starting point of many well-signposted walks and hikes. However, we took a guided four-wheel safari and nature walk through Mount Aspiring National Park, the third largest in New Zealand (the sights in NZ have quirky names -- others include the Bay of Plenty and the Remarkable Mountains).

Our Maori guide was the engaging Stu who narrated the story of his ancestors; how they survived when they first arrived by eating the now extinct Mau bird, how they used branches of the manuka tree to create frames for their tents, and how they made fire. The eel was very versatile -- they ate the meat, used the oil to cook and the dried skin as footwear. Stu pointed out trees so old that people can hide within the roots. He also pointed out the many areas linked to the Lord of the Rings. Stu was just one of the locals who worked as an extra; he was a dwarf orc.

Despite the mesmerising landscape and history, it was hard to escape the adrenalin junkies; everyone had just done or was about to do a sky dive or bungee jump, and I found myself succumbing. Not, I hasten to add, to do either of those. But it suddenly seemed churlish to baulk at a simple trip in a jet boat on the Dart river (the jet boat was invented by kiwi Bill Hamilton 50 years ago for the express purpose of slicing at speed through six inches of water) and to refuse to take a gondola up Ben Lomond. I actually enjoyed them.

Who knows what I'll do on my next visit -- maybe, just maybe, white water rafting?

- Mary O'Sullivan