Don’t go home without ticking these off the list….
Wanaka is the quiet achiever. This refined laid back lakeside mountain town lacks the glitz of Queenstown but it serves up a whole lot of soul for those that venture over the Crown Range to ski the heady heights of Treble Cone and Cardrona. Wanaka’s stunning vistas of clear lakes, crystal river waters and snow capped peaks may be a bucket list destination but within Wanaka you’ll find more bucket list items to tick off.
1. Cheese Scones and Flat Whites
The Federal Diner on Helwick Street is popular for a reason. Some say it’s the Kiwi hospitality but we say it’s the fresh baked cheese scones that have people lining up. Grab one fresh from the oven with a Kiwi flat white, sit back and people watch.
2. Heli skiing
Wanaka is the gateway town to hundreds of thousands of kilometres of prime heli ski terrain amongst the Southern Alps that form a mountain spine down the South Island. If you’re a strong intermediate skier with some powder experience then you can heli ski as each heli ski operator will take you to terrain appropriate to your level. You’ll be dropped off on top of a remote mountain surrounded by more remote mountains and in the company of a qualified guide. Below you will be untouched virgin powder snow ready for you to make your mark. A typical heli day will be around five runs and a day that will stay with you forever. GIve us a call to learn more about booking your heli ski experience.
3. Treble Cone’s Matukituki Valley
Sure you could ski and ride Treble Cone’s 550 hectares of inbound terrain and leave grinning from ear to ear but if you want an all over body glow then get your booty over to the secret bowl of Matukituki Valley, though take a guide or a local and some avalanche gear as you’ll officially be now in the ‘side country’.
4. Cardrona Hotel
It is rude not to finish a day’s skiing at Cardona with a mulled wine at the historic gold rush Cardrona Hotel. You don’t want to offend the locals, after all. When in Rome and all that.
5. Terrain Park at Cardrona
Cardrona is known for its terrain park style and 22 foot Olympic superpipe. The world’s best Olympic medalists from around the world descend upon this southern hemisphere training place to shimmy and show off their bags of tricks on giant jumps, rails, butter boxes and more creative snow features than we have the names of.
6. Pizza with Altitude
Pizza and barista coffee in a shipping container on the top of a mountain? Yes, you read that right. Ski into the AllPress Altitude Pizzeria at the top of the Home Basin Express lift at Treble Cone for caffeine with a view.
7. The Picture Lounge
New Zealand is home to some of the world’s best adventure and wilderness photographers. You’ll find a selection of their work at The Picture Lounge photographic gallery on Dunmore Street. Prints from coveted National Geographic heralded photographers such as Camilla Rutherford and Chris McLennan are available for viewing and purchase. Thepicturelounge.co.nz
8. Cinema Paradiso
Pull up a sofa, a couch, a lounge chair or even recline in a stationary Morris Minor inside the quirky Cinema Paradiso to take in a latest blockbuster, ski film or off beat indie sensation at Wanaka’s movie theatre. Paradiso.net.nz
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