A Winter Wonderland even without snow
The pretty lakeside town of Wanaka, New Zealand, doesn’t disappoint
Wanaka
The locals in Wanaka have a wee saying: snow in July you can’t rely. And that proves true for our 9-day visit in early July. No matter how hard the snow pumps work at the family-friendly Cardrona Mountain Resort, the stuff is thin on the ground. It’s icy by mid-afternoon and, as we found when the wind got up, quickly blown away. The resort of Treble Cone, 29km from Wanaka, isn’t even open.
None the less, on a sunny, windless day with no queues for the three chair lifts, it’s a joy to be on the mountain in that crisp New Zealand air. Then the local school holidays start, and careless adolescents deluge the slopes. The manmade snow turns to rubble. We have to queue for 30 minutes for a chair lift. In a two-hour morning, we squeeze in three runs.
We give the mountain a miss for several days and on hearing that it’s wet and icy on the famous Rob Roy walking track, we borrow the bicycles from our rented house to wheel around the lake, beetling into town first for bacon and egg buttys at our favourite coffee stop, Alchemy. A gravel/dirt track cleaves to the lakeside and runs all the way to Dublin Bay, about a 40km round trip. Beyond the choppy water of the lake, the snow-clad peak of Mt Aspiring rises to meet the sky. The colours are pastel: browns, greys, blues and smudgy white.
Chic glass-and-stone real estate hugs parts of the shoreline, but there are no cafes so take your own supplies. In the summer you can picnic and swim off the grey sand beaches that dot the shore. The sheer water, so I’m told, gets up to 18 degrees. If you’re a hardy mountain biker, there are paths to burn in the Sticky Forest and at Hikuwai Tracks on the Clutha River side.
I’m a novice at jet boat rides, but the kids have done this in Sydney Harbour. We yeehah during much of our hour-long Clutha River ride and the kids report that it’s the best. This might be because Pat, our rugged skipper, with a Charlton Heston in Spartacus look about him, so clearly loves his job. We zoom down to the Devil’s Nook, and every time we do a 360 turn, I see rainbows. The kids shriek. The Irish family in the back row get soaked.
Pat tells us that the 338km long river is fed by the same melting glaciers that fill Lake Wanaka and that the trapped oxygen in the ice gives the water its lovely turquoise tint. The swift current puts it on a par with the Amazon.
The goldrush of the 1860s changed this landscape. Thousands of prospectors lined the banks at the Tuapeka and Waipori fields. Deep rocky gullies, topped with pine trees, plunge in to the river. English willow trees line the banks. Trout and salmon have been introduced. But there’s still gold in them thar hills, and you can try your hand at gold-panning today.
How on earth did the settlement of 250-300 Maoris who once lived on the river shores survive the cold? “They’re a tough people”, says Pat. I assume they ate the huge flightless Moa for hundreds of years, but discover that the birds were such easy prey they died out in the 1400s, only 120 years after the Polynesians arrived.
The drizzle can’t obscure the majestic gorgeousness of the 90-minute drive to the Blue Pools, a junction on the Makarora River at the end of Lake Wanaka in which the water is a deep aqua blue. From the roadside car park, it’s a 1.5km walk through the forest. Tall skinny trees, grizzled rocks and the sozzled ruddy ground are drippy and blanketed in moss at this time of the year. Alas, foiled again, the Blue Pools are a browny-green due to the over-abundance of water, but fun is to be had making rock temples with the river stones.
Wanaka is not all about the bright outdoors. An afternoon at the nearby PUZZLING WORLD makes our heads spin. There are optical illusions galore (see below.). The wooden-fence maze is elaborate, outdoors and a challenge. We divide in to teams to tackle the four towers. As they warn, we end up walking/running about 4 km and have to exit via an emergency gate. The café is full of puzzles to enjoy over a drink, and the gift shop sells a diverse range of puzzle books, toys and jigsaws. Even a visit to the “Roman” loo is an experience.
Cinema Paradiso in the town centre is a hokey, inexpensive 3-screen film-goers delight. Here, you can hunker down in squishy sofas and race out at intermission to scoff fresh cookies, ice-creams and popcorn, or a vino and pizza. www.paradiso.net.nz
While the kids watch Spiderman, I enjoy marvelling at the goodies in the shops. Glowing Sky has a range of merino knitwear made locally in a wild profusion of colours. Simply New Zealand has lush bird cushions and the nature-inspired ceramics of Royce McGlashen (www.roycemcglashen.co.nz). At the Mediterranean Markets I buy a ginger and walnut caramel slab that is the best thing I’ve ever eaten out of a package (www.puredelish.co.nz).
As for fresh nosh, we dine out every night. All that mountain air activates the appetite, and besides we virtuously walk the 20 minutes to dinner and home again. The Asian-fusion food front is strong and the coffee is good. One of the great things about Wanaka is that it’s small and only a short hop between restaurants if you forget to book and have to try your luck. (See below for our choices.)
Who knows, come next July Cardrona could be knee-deep in white powder and the reputedly vertical slopes of Treble Cone open for business. If you take the risk, be aware that it’s a long, winding, treacherous 14km dirt road to the mountain top. We’ll return to Wanaka, but in spring and with our walking boots and cycle shorts.
Extra
We chose an Airbnb property on Plantation Road. Book somewhere central. Package ski operators will try and put you in Oakridge Resort, 2km out of town.
Alchemy Cafe has a great ambience and coffee. They offer 2 for one meals on Tuesdays. Francesca’s Italian Kitchen is the most popular joint in town. Excellent gnocchi and tiramisu. Sasanoki Japanese Kitchen is tiny and quirky. Soft shell crab main is good. Shinaburo Korean Eating House is great value and the kids’ favourite. Bibimbap is healthy and delish. The soy/ginger braised chicken at Fu Dog feeds a family of five with sides. Go to Federal Diner for the kedgeree at brunch and whole lamb shoulder in the evening. Cork bar has esoteric gins, including an Irish one of blackberries and heather.
Go the extra mile and try Double Black in an unprepossessing estate in Albert Town. The savoury scroll with feta, olives and tomato is delicious. Our coffee comes with nuggets of ginger slice. The caramel chocolate brownie is heavenly.
Visit the i-SITE team on Ardmore Street. They are super helpful and have hundreds of brochures and ideas.
www.lakewanaka.co.nz/visitor-centre/
Don’t prebook lift tickets or lessons for Cardrona. See how you feel on the day. Check out https://www.cardrona.com/winter
We used Snopro for our ski gear. They deliver and collect direct to your door. Their team must be handpicked for their friendliness www.snopro.co.nz/wanaka-ski-hire
Go Jets Wanaka is a splurge, but the best of the lot. The boats are smaller and Pat is a winning skipper www.gojetswanaka.co.nz
Try the helpful bloke at Racer’s Edge for bike hire www.racersedge.co.nz.
Check in with the Mt Aspiring Visitor Centre re the state of walking tracks in the park. Rob Roy is a must do, if safe. If you want the Blue Pools to be blue, check in with i-SITE before you go, but it’s gorgeous anyhow. Spend the day and do one of the walking tracks there https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/otago/places/mount-aspiring-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/blue-pools-track/
Stop at Hawea Lake for a drink at the hotel afterwards to admire the views http://www.lakehawea.co.nz
In a bend on stunning Kawarau Gorge Road between Wanaka and Queenstown, you’ll find the Goldfields Mining Centre, a historic reserve where you can gold pan yourself
www.goldfieldsmining.co.nz
The town of Cromwell is worth a coffee detour on the drive to Queenstown to see the historic buildings saved when the town was flooded in the 1950s https://www.newzealand.com/au/