Puzzles, Gorges and Colour

The southern lakes region of New Zealand is an area of impressive natural beauty but there is also a huge range of activities from rock climbing and paragliding to hunting and fishing. Wanaka is the largest town in this region and it is now often described as a "mini Queenstown".

Wanaka combines the ease of small town living with the quality of a good resort. A compact town centre provides visitors with easy access to shops, restaurants and services. Accommodation of all descriptions is available in the area. We sipped wine at a local winery, walked along the lake edge through a carpet of leaves and wished we had time for a days fishing, visited amazing Puzzling World, dined in an "East meets West" restaurant, and discovered the benefits of a Top 10 Holiday Park.

Later, we drove beside fields of apple orchards, stopped to buy fresh fruit and honey from a roadside stall, explored the dramatic Kawarau Gorge, visited the world’s first bungy site, and relaxed in the history and dramatic colour of Arrowtown.

Quick Tips:

Allow more than one day for this region. Your time can be full of activities or you can use Wanaka to recharge the batteries before hurtling into the West Coast region or Queenstown’s action.

Best Way To Get Around:

It’s best to have your own vehicle so you can stop off at numerous picturesque, remote lake-side locations or to quickly get to the attractions, which are quite widely spread. Wanaka town and Arrowtown are both very compact, ideal for walking. There are buses linking the region to Queenstown and the West Coast.

We found the park about two kilometres from town amongst rolling hills overlooking the lake. Our requirement was for self-contained accommodation so we chose a motel unit. The unit was large and comfortable but was homely rather than modern. The kitchen had a large sink, a stove with an oven, refrigerator, toaster, and electric jug and it contained crockery, cutlery, cooking utensils, cleaning equipment and tea, coffee, milk, salt and pepper.

The living room had a table, 4 chairs, lounge chair with foot stool (what bliss), couch, coffee table, TV and electric heater. There was a double bed with electric mattress and a wardrobe in the bedroom. The separate bathroom had a shower, toilet and hand basin. We were told that the facilities in the tourist flats were similar but that guests provided their own bed linen and towels. Linen was available for rent for $5 per bed.

The standard and facilities of this park were significantly better than others we had previously visited. Managers Richard and Diana Wallace told us that this could be due to the requirements of the Top 10 organisation to which the park belonged. We didn’t understand the significance of this at the time but after visiting other Top 10 parks during our New Zealand tour we saw the obvious benefits of this group. One was a 10% discount to those with a Top 10 card. Then there was the opportunity for free onward booking to another Top 10 park, free road maps, and so on. But it was the standard of the unit, the coffee, the bathroom cosmetics etc. and the friendliness of owners and staff that made these parks stand-out from the crowd. They didn’t seem to be any more expensive so we would strongly recommend them.

Pleasant Lodge had a swimming pool (much too cold), a spa pool, a small shop, some sporting facilities, a TV lounge, bird aviary, gas BBQs, laundry, and plenty of space. Reception opens from 8.30am-8.30pm, a newspaper is delivered to the room, and fishing rods and bicycles are available to rent. We enjoyed our stay.

Price per room: Motel NZ$80 for 2 adults, tourist flat NZ$60 for 2, cabin NZ$33 for 2, powered site NZ$10/adult. email: link

Open: noon-3pm and 6pm-9pm, closed Monday Cost: NZ$20-30 each

This restaurant provides an unusual combination of New Zealand and Japanese cuisine. The food was healthy and the quality stood out from the rest during our trip. The restaurant is set apart from adjoining development by a garden and there is plenty of on-site car parking. You can eat outside on a deck but we judged it to be too cold so we settled for an indoor table by a window.

My wife had Curry and Rice – Japanese version, which turned out to be a delicious beef and vegetable curry served with rice (NZ$15). She rated it highly. I had a Fried Chicken Salad (NZ$20) which was marinated fried chicken and fresh vegetables in a Japanese dressing. For lunch it was excellent.

There were several other choices but we thought many were more suited to dinner. Chicken teriyaki (NZ$20) sounded nice, as did the rack of lamb (NZ$23.50). For non-meat eaters the vegetarian tempura Udon noodles should suffice. It didn’t seem appropriate for lunch but the restaurant is fully licensed and you can take your own wine (BYO wine).

Open: 10am-5pm Cost: tour $9.50; lunch around $70 for two with wine

We found this a bit of a shock after several days of low-key activities. We were obviously back on the tourist route now. The winery and restaurant are in an impressive complex adjacent to the main road – you cannot miss it. We took the hourly winery tour, which took around 35 minutes. Maybe we were unlucky that harvest was occuring but we went nowhere near the winery. We were taken to the edge of a field of grapes and shown what a vine looked like. Then it was into the wine cave and a tasting of three wines. Frankly we had done more on free tours elsewhere. The wine cave is interesting but probably not NZ$9.50 worth. Then again, maybe we are not tourists who like to be herded into the mainstream.

The restaurant has a good reputation. There is a delightful outdoor eating area for when the weather is good. We were lucky. The winter menu was available when we were there and we understand that the summer menu is perhaps somewhat lighter. Don’t know about the prices though. My wife had the breast of chicken (NZ$21) which came dusted with spices on a chorizo, potato and basil frittata with roasted vegetables and a cider pesto dressing. It comes with a wine recommendation of Greenston or Sauvignon Blanc. I chose the Grapepickers platter (NZ$18.50). This is soup with tomato and basil brie, huminus, apricot chutney, pickles and grilled bread. We decided on the cheapest bottle of wine available – the 2000 Sauvignon Blanc (NZ$20).

We enjoyed the meal. The atmosphere was delightful, the food above average and the wine quite appropriate. We had doubts, however, about the value, particularly for lunch. We certainly had to economise that evening. We had chosen a couple of the cheaper dishes on the menu – the venison was NZ$23 for instance – so if you go, plan to spend an appropriate time to enjoy it all.

Close by is the Kawarau Bridge, which was the world’s first bungy jumping site. You can still experience 43 metres of free fall courtesy of A J Hakett Bungy.

This place is bizarre. There are several components, each one quite different. The first is the café and puzzle rooms. There are tables of puzzles to try or you can watch them being demonstrated. Then you can buy a sample to take home. Entry to this area is free.

The main building consists of the illusion house where your understanding of true horizontal goes crazy. So did my head and I had to quickly leave but others seemed to spend ages watching such things as water apparently flowing uphill. The Hall of Following Faces was a surprise. 168 giant faces surround you and they all seem to rotate as you walk around the room. Equally interesting was the Hologram Hall which has a huge display of 3-D hologram photos which can interest you for ages.

The final component is the great maze. This consists of one and a half kilometres of passages on two levels. Unfortunately, the maze was closed for maintenance when we visited but I spoke to several local children who said they thought it was great.

The time you spend here will be determined by if you have children and how fascinated you are by the unusual. Allow at least an hour.

Open: 8.30am-5.30pm Cost: Building-adults NZ$4, children NZ$3; building plus maze-adults NZ$7, children NZ$4.50; great maze only-adults NZ$5, children NZ$3.

Location: 15 minutes drive from Queenstown

We went to Arrowtown primarily because we heard it was one of the best places in New Zealand for Autumn colour. Actually we were about two weeks late for the peak of the season but we were still well satisfied. In the process we discovered a delightful little town now very much dependent on tourism.

Arrowtown literally sprang up overnight with the discovery of gold in the Arrow River in 1862. Thousands of miners from around the world flocked to the area and the river became famed as one of the world's richest sources of alluvial gold. At the height of the rush the population of the town rose to over 7,000 people.

Today Arrowtown is a picturesque town that retains its Old World charm through careful preservation of its colourful history. There are restaurants, cafes, bistros, hotels, a bakery, Chinese village, souvenir shops and a museum. We had great fun walking along the main street then exploring a little further amongst the immaculately maintained buildings and wonderful European vegetation.

After immersing ourselves in colour and history we drove on to Queenstown.