Chicago residents have been told "visiting Queenstown - a skiing town that buzzes year-round - is a must" in a travel feature which ran in the Chicago Sun-Times.
In an article dated June 22, correspondent Jennifer Thomas reported she and her husband started their two-week trip to New Zealand in Queenstown "and from there, no other part of the country quite topped the Otago region".
Thomas told readers the first worthwhile day trip was the drive to Glenorchy.
"The town of Glenorchy is really just a wide place in the road - although it offers several extreme sports options to feed off the adrenaline capital, Queenstown - but it is tucked into great surroundings next to [Lake Wakatipu].
"I also ate the best meal of the trip - a massive plate of pancakes sitting in maple syrup, fluffy stacks separated by mascarpone cheese and topped with grilled bananas and bacon - at the Glenorchy Cafe."
Thomas said the couple followed GPS co-ordinates to visit The Lord of the Rings filming locations in the Rees Valley and Paradise.
"A second trip to make from Queenstown is the easy 13-mile [sic] drive to Arrowtown, a former gold-mining village with several carefully preserved original buildings," Thomas said.
"Aside from Queenstown, Arrowtown is the only city I visited that I would call 'charming'.
"Sure, it's touristy, but that also means it has a great selection of restaurants, pubs and shops on a main drag that looks like something out of the Wild West."
