Lake Wanaka, the great outdoors (Lake Wanaka)

Member Name: logberg

Product:	Lake Wanaka
Date:	27/08/05 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Outdoor recreation, nightlife, shopping, touring

Disadvantages: None

New Zealand's Lake Wanaka is huge and offers views of mountain ranges, high country farms site all around it as do new homes, lodges and walking trails.


In the South Island, it is a place you can just relax, take in the sun and all the summer, outdoor recreation you would ever want and also you can stay cosy, by the fire or get out into the mountains if that what you want in winter.

I've visited Lake Wanaka on a day trip, I've camped there, interviewed the rich and famous at beautiful accommodation hotel openings, and I love it.

Wanaka township nestles on the shores of Lake Wanaka, under the Southern Alps, and it offers quality shopping for everyday things or the tourist nick nacks you look for when visiting this fabulous part of the country.

My real favourite attractiion at Wanaka is the Maze, it's a world-wide labyrinth to get lost in or the entire family can spend time in the puzzle room or see themselves in all sorts of dilemmas in the ''effects shreiking'' area.

After you've visited the Maze, pop back down to the lake and have lunch under the trees and just look out on sheer beauty.

Lake Wanaka, the fourth biggest lake in New Zealand, is fed by the Matukituki River and that brings icy, cold mountain water down from the Aspring National Park - sheer quiet in majestic mountains.

I've camped in the Matukituki Valley and there definitely is not any facilities, so if you like the shower, hot and cold, running water and a flush toilet etc, don't go.

Here are a couple of Lake Wanaka stories I just have to share. Our family camped in the Matukituki Valley for a few days and we had set the shower up using some scrim (hessian) wrapped around some bushes and tied to a tree.

We'd been watching the high station landholder taking herds of cattle down the valley to his yards so the vets could do the annual TB testing.

Well, my teenage daughter was taking her shower as the afternoon drew on, and then we saw it. A huge, cross looking bull coming up from the cattle yard and heading back to his paddock. His route was taking him directly to my daughter in the makeshift shower. Oh dear!

My partner told my son and I to get into the car and he would slowly creep around the bushes and get my daughter out of the shower and bring her back to the car, before the bull got there.

Now, I am not sure which was the worse of the two evils for her: the bull interupting her privacy or my male friend arriving to urge her to put the towel around herself and accompany him back to the car.

Well, she chose the second one and we waited until the ugly brute stomped and hissed his way back to the paddock. I opened a bottle of wine, cooled from the nearby creek, and camping went on - safely.

The other story involved our faithful dog Cassie. She loved going fishing in the back country and one morning my son was fishing, with our friend, who'd told him to be sure to secure the lure on the rod and not to fling it around loosely.

Well, fate determined that he just had to throw it out as Cassie plodded along the bank and ended up wearing it in her ear. Now, drama upon drama followed. A school teacher from the fishing lodge hundreds of yards up the valley came down and offered his huge ''snippers'' but they were too big to cut the tiny lure.

My son did not improve make matters when he tried to comfort the dog by telling her the ear-ring looked fetching. Nothing for it, we fed her some painkillers and a long and uncomfortable trip, around Lake Wanaka to find a vet.

Next day the dog was quite happy, fishing continued and our Lake Wanaka memories linger.

Lake Wanaka is a great day out destination if you are holidaying in Central Otago. If you want to stay there, the accommodation options are several: hotels for various budgets, cabins, camping grounds, motels or private rentals.

The daytime recreation activities are vast: swimming, water skiing, boating, fishing, tours, and just sunbathing beside the lake is entertainment in itself.

You don't have to go far to do anything and booking is available in the township, beside the lake.

In winter, Lake Wanaka is a good base to stay to ski on either Treble Cone or Cardrona Ski areas. Both have been established for several years and well set up for all types of winter snow skiing, heli-skiing and snowboarding activities.

Lake Wanaka has evolved to be a great family place to stay, it has something for all the family with night time entertainment much better now than it used to be.

Wanaka,is near the main road between Central Otago and the Haast Pass, in fact on the way to the Haast you see the second arm of Lake Wanaka as it glistens beside the Haast Road.

Lake Wanaka is beautiful, 4500 locals and visitors blend well and once you visit you'll want to return, for sure.

Summary: Outdoor recreation, summer and winter, friendly place to blob out