St Patrick's Catholic Church

Queenstown & Wanaka

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Apart from its impressive Star of David–shaped rose window, this 1874 stone Gothic Revival church, built from local schist rock, wouldn't be worth noting if it weren't for its connection to Australasia's only Catholic saint. Acclaimed educator St Mary of the Cross, aka Mary MacKillop (1842–1909), founded a convent in the tiny 1870s miners cottage next door. There are interesting displays about the saint in the church and in the restored cottage.

The church and cottage are usually unlocked – go to the back door of the cottage.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Tourists relax at the shore of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown.

    Lake Wakatipu

    11.06 MILES

    Shaped like a cartoon lightning bolt, Lake Wakatipu is NZ's third-largest lake. It reaches a depth of 372m, meaning the lake bed actually sits below sea…

  • The Cardrona Distillery and Museum sign board with hundreds of bras hanging on the fence known as Bradrona.

    Cardrona Distillery

    10.43 MILES

    Enter past the fence of bras (Bra-drona!) and you'll find the beautiful cellar door of this fledgling single-malt distillery inside a building made of…

  • Skyline gondola and bungy platform.

    Skyline Gondola

    10.64 MILES

    Hop aboard for fantastic views as the gondola squeezes through pine forest to its grandstand location 400m above Queenstown. At the top there's the…

  • Bridge in Queenstown Gardens.

    Queenstown Gardens

    10.8 MILES

    Set on its own tongue of land framing Queenstown Bay, this pretty park is the perfect city escape right within the city. Laid out in 1876, it features an…

  • Wānaka Station Park

    Wānaka Station Park

    21.68 MILES

    Wānaka Station Park is a piece of Wānaka that existed before Wānaka did. This remnant of the sheep station that once covered the entire south side of the…

  • Bendigo Historic Reserve

    Bendigo Historic Reserve

    25.12 MILES

    Gold was discovered in Bendigo in 1862; relics from the rush can be seen at this historic reserve, accessible off SH8, near the north of Lake Dunstan…

  • Cromwell Heritage Precinct

    Cromwell Heritage Precinct

    19.79 MILES

    When the Clyde Dam was completed in 1992 it flooded Cromwell's historic town centre – 280 homes, six farms and 17 orchards. Many historic buildings were…

  • Arrowtown Chinese Settlement

    Arrowtown Chinese Settlement

    0.3 MILES

    Strung along the creek, near the site of Arrowtown's first gold find, is NZ’s best example of an early Chinese settlement. Interpretive signs explain the…

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Nearby Queenstown & Wanaka attractions

1. Lakes District Museum & Gallery

0.1 MILES

Exhibits cover the gold-rush era and the early days of Chinese settlement around Arrowtown. Kids are kept engaged by the likes of an 'Odd One Out' game…

2. Arrowtown Gaol

0.11 MILES

With gold rushes came lawlessness. Arrowtown's prisoners were originally manacled to logs, but in 1876 this schist jail, now surrounded by homes, was…

3. Arrowtown Chinese Settlement

0.3 MILES

Strung along the creek, near the site of Arrowtown's first gold find, is NZ’s best example of an early Chinese settlement. Interpretive signs explain the…

4. Chard Farm

5.46 MILES

The most picturesque of the Gibbston wineries, Chard Farm's rustic cellar door is reached by a precipitous 2km road overlooking the Kawarau Bridge Bungy…

5. Gibbston Valley

6.38 MILES

The area's oldest commercial winery (established in the early 1980s) offers tours of the winery ($35) and NZ's largest wine cave ($20). It also has a…

6. Pisa Conservation Area

7.44 MILES

Covering much of the Pisa Range, this conservation reserve has several walking trails through the tussock grass. To get the full show, the 19km tramp to…

7. Peregrine

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Peregrine by name, peregrine by design…the award-winning construction of the cellar door, shaped a bit like a falcon's wing in flight, looks particularly…

8. Rockburn

8.3 MILES

Producers of one of the region's most acclaimed pinot noirs; its cellar door is in the front yard of the rustic Gibbston Tavern.

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