Walter Peak Gourmet BBQ Lunch & Queenstown Lake Cruise

The food was sensational and the sheep dog show was very good. We had a lovely time and would recommend the experience to anyone.

Fantastic experience with breath taking scenery everywhere & great friendly service throughout the day.

What did we love? The trip across the lake on the Earnslaw was beautiful. Stunning scenery and it is very cool that you can see right down into the mechanics of the steam engine. Walter Peak as a destination was beautiful, very sheltered from wind and a great photo opportunity. The BBQ lunch exceeded all my expectations! Beautifully cooked meats and fish, a lovely salad and vegetable selection, dessert bar, cheese and pickles selection and even a wall of Lolly jars to choose things from! Absolutely faultless meal. The sheep shearing and sheep dog display was pretty cute. We were Kiwis so nothing new for us to see, but I could tell the mostly overseas guests around us were enthralled. The speaker was great! What didn't we love? Too many people on the Earnslaw. You could not move around for all the prams in the aisles - heaven help us if there had been an emergency. It also made going to the dining area for a drink not worth it as the trip hazards were too difficult to navigate. Add to that the guy that was employed to sing and play for us on the Earnslaw was probably a 2 out of 10 for performance value. His songs on the way over were very depressing and he was not capable of playing and singing them well. Eek. Surely there would be a better option than this guy?? (I am a muso so I might be picky here, but our friends who are not musica, were also less than impressed...) And while the Walter Peak meal was well planned, and executed, we travelled with another couple but could not dine with them because the booked separately and the seating was allocated and that was that. Our friends were in a completely different room and we didn't even see them until after lunch. This was particularly disappointing. (We tried to add them to our booking which is a whole other story, so they just rung and booked themselves as was suggested) We were seated between two families with kids and prams with the proximity you would find in a mall food court. There was nothing awful about those people we were seated near, but it just wasn't the vibe we were going for, we were looking forward to a relaxed lunch with friends which didn't happen. We couldn't even get our food until our table was called up - kind of reminded me of school camp. I feel that Walter Peak is all about the number of guests that can be fitted into the space to maximize profit. Sadly, this removed some of the pleasure of the experience for us.

I Boarded the TSS Earnslaw for the Walter Peak BBQ lunch and expected this to be a boring run of the mill trip across the lake and quick lunch tourist grab. I was very wrong! From the minute we got to our seats the beauty of the boat was on full display. From the beautiful bar to the solo entertainer on board and the 100+ years of history. This was an experience, not a tourist grab. Listening to the music drinking mulled wine from the bar while watching the remarkable remarkables pass by was just amazing. But it didn’t end there! On arriving towards the jetty at Walter peak farm we were greeted by the staff all lined up outside waving by to the boat! Then on arrival it was off for lunch. The BBQ buffet was just out of this world. It was absolutely huge the variety and quality of food on offer from wagyu to lamb to green lipped muscles there was certainly something for everyone. Meats salads, charcuterie, desserts you name it and this was all quality food, nothing cheap and nasty. After lunch we spent some time walking around the farm visiting the animals and the shop before making our way to the farm show. The farm show was fun, interactive and interesting and the ability of these dogs are unbelievable. We then made our way back to the TSS Earnslaw for our trip back to Queenstown.

Went over on the 5pm cruise for dinner, the food was divine. And great service by the front of house team, Ellie made us feel so welcome and was a joy to be around. Looking forward to are next experience with RealNZ can’t recommend it enough.

Good food and the farm show was educational and entertaining. Nice afternoon activity for all ages. Ship is fun too.

Outstanding value for money! The gourmet lunch buffet was hands down the best we've ever had....and we've enjoyed quite a few over the years. It was an incredible day from start to finish. We couldn't recommend this trip more. If you're visiting Queenstown, this is an experience everyone should do!

Such a relaxing experience - loved the steamship journey and the farm lunch was delicious - excellent staff!

Definitely worth the experience, food and demonstrations were amazing. The boat felt a little crowded but would still do it again

A beautiful way to relax on steam boat sailing along the lake Whakatipu it was interesting to see how the steam boat works as you can observe above them in a special viewing room beautifully maintained throughout the boat. Absolutely gorgeous views to Walter park Walter park was a great place to see some animals with a fun sheep shearing show An amazing buffet for lunch with all fresh Local ingredients Highly recommended !!!!