Hi Ricky,
I am living in Queenstown at the moment and although yes it is a touristy type town with lots of adventure activities for the adrenalin junkies there's also so much more here and the lakes and mountains are just stunning...
I think there are lots of places you would be interested in here. For example Wanaka is only a 45 minute drive away across the mountains and has the national park there too. From Wanaka you can easily access the bottom of the West Coast drive where there are so many lovely walks, waterfalls etc and if you get to just south of Haast there is also penguins/seals to see (they are seasonal and not sure whether they'll be there when you arrive). I don't think anyone has mentioned Arrowtown yet which is another lovely quaint little gem just 15 mins drive from Queenstown and is worth exploring too, particularly as you will be arriving at the end of Autumn and it is just stunning at the moment with all the yellows, oranges and reds in the trees. Fiordland is also easily accessible and you can get to Milford Sound and all it has to offer very easily for a day or two-day excursion. There are certainly buses that go there daily. Glenorchy is also only a 40 minute drive and is away from the 'bustle' of Queenstown and has some lovely countryside to explore, as has Kingston at the other end of Lake Wakatipu.
As for weather... the first snows arrived yesterday and have stayed on the mountain tops and looks beautiful, however over the last few weeks the weather has also dropped considerably and is much more wintery already. You don't get much rain here in Queenstown because of its location and most days have beautiful blue skies and sunshine. When you are in the sunshine during the day it can get pretty warm and t-shirt weather but as soon as you are in the shade it's pretty cold and certainly once the sun goes behind the mountains the temperature drops down to less than 10 degrees C and overnight we're getting some frosts now and probably near to freezing. So I would guess that in another few weeks then it'll be even colder so make sure you bring some decent warm gear...!!!
There are so many places to go walking/hiking/tramping and there are a fair few books that focus specifically on walks in this area... they certainly sell them in the information centres around here so you would easily be able to pick one up when you arrive and choose some walks that suit your needs. There's also a freebee basic one you can pick up in the information centres and include walks that give you awesome views of the lake and mountains. It's such a touristy town that everything is set up for the tourists and easy to arrive and book when you arrive. There are several information centres that you can pop into and will be able to give you specifics on walks and other activities that would interest you.
Hope that's of some help and you have a great trip
