New Zealand map from Wikivoyage showing Christchurch.
Problem
What to see and do on your one day before and after a walking tour of Wanaka? The Puzzle museum is a must. For photography, the lavender farm with the funny-face alpacas like grinning goats with sheep wigs or miniature camel-face comedians. The haka dance at the Wanka Tree which leans diagonally drunk sideways in the lake.
We are planning a return trip to New Zealand. We have previously visited the city of Christchurch, and driven down to Queenstown for skiing holidays which was a novelty with upside down seasons when it was summer in London, England.
We have driven back from skiing in Quenstown up the East coast to Christchurch in the north, via Wanaka, stopping to see Puzzling World with its maze and museum of puzzles. So far our focus has always been on skiing. Now we want to see the summertime walking opportunities around the lake and up the mountains.
This time we are planning a budget walking tour of New Zealand to the Wanaka region of the South island, around the Wanaka lake and resort. Here's what a member of my family has discovered.
Answers
FLIGHTS
The first problem to solve is budgeting for the flight. That could be the most expensive item. We looked at the Singapore Airlines flights because our journey would start in Singapore and we have an air miles membership (Star Alliance) and want to collect miles.
The airlines' own website was offering high price fares beyond our budget. We know that many airlines are cheaper if you don't start in Singapore or if you break your journey and take a budget airline for part of it.
I'm reminded of the old joke about the helpful Irish person who advises a lost traveller, 'If I were you, I wouldn't start from here.' So absurd, so annoying, yet so true.
Round trip flights from the UK were cheaper If we had chosen to go to the UK first, the cost of the trip to the UK might have been offset by the saving on the cost of the trip onwards to New Zealand. That didn't work for us because of the dates and we were starting from Singapore, not the UK.
The round trip ticket was cheaper than a single flight. Could we just take the second half of the journey? No, because if you don't take the first half, the second half is automatically cancelled.
SKYSCANNER
Skyscanner does the work for you, comparing single trips on many airlines. If you don't yet have a return date in mind, that's great. You can do each half of the journey separately.
Traveloka (like okay)
An Asian website called Traveloka gives you round trip prices. It does the job for you, matching up the two cheapest airlines for different halves or quarters of the same round trip. Much more convenient as well as time saving.
In the end, we found that dearer flights to Wanaka went via Christchurch. We had done Christchurch. We wanted cheaper flights.
AUSTRALIA
You made a saving by routing via Sydney! Yes, Sydney Australia. (No, it's not the capital of Australia, that's Canberra.)
NON-REFUNDABLE
The cheaper flights are non-refundable.
The dearer flights are refundable. For business trip where you might extend your trip or cut it short that might be a good idea.
My family member's experience was that he rarely wanted to change flights after booking, so it was not necessary, and the extra cost of a cancelled flight every four or five years compared favourably with the extra cost of a refundable flight. So he booked the cheap flight. Next, on to accommodation.
ACCOMMODATION
The walking group had booked shared accommodation. It still worked out expensive. About $100 a night, times 7 nights (on top of airfare, meals, hire car, and other expenses. Looking online we found campsites run by a b and b organization. Having a hire car offered extra advantages when camping. If it rained, sleep in the car. You could pack up your tent and store it in the car boot, rather than leave it out for all to see. What if there's no wifi? Or electricity? They will be eating out at night. So do all the checking of emails in the restaurant and retire to the tent just to sleep.
If driving, what about drinking wine. Can you do wine drinking? No, that's why you are wine tasting, breathing the aroma, taking a sip, then spitting.
WANAKA WINE & BEER
What are the drinking options, for drivers and others. Wine, or beer, or both, or, for children and teetotallers, tea and lavender ice cream at the lavender farm.
BEER AND LAVENDER FARM VISIT TIMING
The Lavender Farm is open 9-5, the beerworks shop 11-5. So if you are out walking all day, you need a day before the group walking and/or at the end for the sightseeing, unless you have a day or afternoon off midweek.
LAVENDER FARM
Lavender, incidentally, has only one a or ah, and two 'e's or ees or ease, howwever you like to remember aee. It starts Lav, like lavatory, but ends with er. Lav-end-er. Ends with E. (Wanaka is all, a triple a, aaa.) Only one A in Lavender and one A in Farm.
The online shop currently (2018) only posts within New Zealand. It sells lavender honey, lavender soap, lavender shampoo and conditioner and moisturiser. The pictures of the shop showed tote bags, aprons and other gifts.
You can have tea in the tea room and walk around the gardens and visit the farm for a small fee. Great photo opportunities, as you will see from Tripadvisor.
WANAKA WINE TASTING
Felton Road
The big name to look for is Felton. They have lots of parcels of land, mini-vineyards, known as 'blocks'. The French use the term lieu-dit (named places). Each area makes a cuvee. Block 50 is the best, and wines can cost up to fifty pounds sterling.
The central area of the country does not get cooled by the sea breezes and is hot enough for red grapes, such as pinot noir.
Our friendly new Zealand friend involved in organising the trekking and walking says: 'There's no need to book to taste the wine. Just turn up at the cellar door.'
WINE TOUR
However, a reviewer on Tripadvisor said if you want to take a tour (at Felton Road winery) you must phone and book because the tour lasts an hour and a half so you need to book a time. Also there is a limit to the numbers on each tour.
To my surprise, the most experienced of our wine enthusiasts was the least interested in the winery tour. He said, "I know what wineries look like".
The Felton Road website is most amusing. The pages are like pages of a book you can click on to turn.
WINERIES & VINEYARDS
Another vineyard is Rippon Vineyard.
Let's put the wineries in alphabetical order:
Aitken's Folly Vineyard.
Akarau Vineyards.
Carrick.
Domain Road Vineyard
Maude Wines
Mr Difficulty Wine Cellar Door. (Lunch from 11 am to 4 pm. Must book.)
Rippon estate - for views.
Scotts Base.
WanaHaka tours (includes haka and the alapaca farm).
Wooing Tree vineyard.
So many things to see and do. I suggest you read through tripadvisor and look through the photos and pick your favourite.
If you are not into wine, how about beer, or spending time on the movie sights?
BEER
Wanaker Beerworks.
Serves beer and cider.
The shop, online too, sells beer, glassware and tee-shirts. Access is alongside toy museum where you can leave your under 18 'children' to browse.
MOVIE LOCATIONS
Rumour says that Disney is re-making Mulan (story of a Chinese girl who goes to war dressed as a man). The film shooting was at the end of 2018 but for commercial reasons everybody was asked to keep it a secret. When the conservationist objected to certain locations being used, they might not have been equally interested in keeping it all a secret.
However, the timing and numbers of people who arrived could be ascertained, according to hotel bookings - whole hotels and areas booked out by a film team.
This film probably won't be on your screen until 2020.
Meanwhile you can take tours of the studios and the scenery of other films. The area has been chosen for numerous films (see list in Wikipedia).
The Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
CAR HIRE Or Mountain Bike?
Car hire booked online in advance was cheaper - especially as we had time to look for a better deal and weren't rushed into a decision as you might be at an airport or hotel.
Oddly, the charge for a car was about S$20 a day, whilst the cost of a mountain bike was more, S$75. Why? Maybe supply and demand.
MUSEUMS
WANAKA WHEELS Museum
Warbirds and Wheels, Wanaka, is a museum of cars and motorbikes and other forms of transport (not only planes, as I mistakenly thought from the word birds).
NATIONAL TOY MUSEUM
Next to the airport, handy on the day you arrive or leave.
GOLDFIELDS MINING CENTRE
Cromwell, Central Ortago. Most interesting. You can try your hand at gold panning. I tried. Did not become a milloniaire. At this point I gave up and lost interest.
SCENIC POINTS
When every museum and attraction is shut, admire the scenery or go for a meal.
Scenic points
That Wanaka Tree - willow tree leaning
Lakeside lunch view from a vineyard
Mountaintop overlooking the lake, by bike or car.
Restaurants and Food
Restaurant
Fig - slow cooking fast food. Choose your plate size according to appetite or budget, and fill up with meat and vegetables or the vegetarian option.
Pick Your Own Cherries
Cheeki Cherries.
Pick your own cherry farm, Cromwell.
WINE STYLES
Red wines? Pinot Noir is the Wanaka speciality.
White wines? Getwurttraminer at Mount Difficulty Wines Cellar Door, 73 Felton Road, Bannockburn, Cromwell 9384 NZ. tel +64 - 3- 445 3445.
Sparkling Wine - Scotts Base.
USEFUL ADDRESSES & WEBSITES
Rippon Vineyard
Wanaka
New Zealand
Puzzling World
New Zealand
Felton Road
New Zealand
wanakalavenderfarm.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puzzling_World
puzzlingworld.co.nz
skyscanner.com.sg
singaporeair.com
newzealandtourism.co.nz
lakewananka.co.nz
feltonroad.com
https://www.newzealandtourism.co.nz/region/wanaka/tours/hobbit-movie-set-and-location-tours
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker
No comments:
Post a Comment