Luxury Queenstown, Wanaka and Te Anau Lodge Accommodation

Lake Wanaka

Location
Wanaka is still a well kept secret! While all the tourist buses head to the large international style resort of Queenstown, locals and visitors 'in the know' stay in b&b, hotel and farmstay accommodation in Wanaka.

Main Attractions/Activities
Lonely Planet Travel Guides describe Wanaka as 'a sporty laid back town which offers a sharp contrast to the hype of Queenstown'. Only an hour's drive from Queenstown, Wanaka is a great alternative if you prefer a smaller "village' atmosphere. The gateway to the stunning Mt Aspiring National Park with many excellent mountain bike/hiking trails , wilderness jet boat excursions, fishing, lake activities, skiing, lovely vineyards and unique attractions like the NZ Fighter Pilots Museum, Toy & Transport Museum and Puzzling World.

In the nearby mountains are internationally rated skifields Cardrona, Treble Cone, the Waiorau Nordic Ski Area, and Harris Mountains Heliskiing - one of the largest operations of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

Don't Miss
Trout fishing
Hiking
Skiing
Vineyard visit
Mountain biking
Skyshow Centre
Fighter Pilots Museum
Puzzling World

Queenstown

Location
The major resort town of Queenstown nestles beside the deep blue waters of Lake Wakatipu, at the foot of the Remarkables Range in west Otago.

General
Queenstown is New Zealand's year-round alpine destination, where you can be as active as you like or just leisurely soak up the magnificent scenery. It has been judged one of the top 25 cities in the world by a leading travel magazine.

A recent count found that Queenstown and Arrowtown had a choice of over 100 restaurants and cafes, catering for all tastes and budgets.

Main Attractions / Activities
Shopping is Queenstown's specialty, and souvenir shops here are as good as any you will find elsewhere.

There are year-round action-packed thrills such as jet boating on the Kawarau or Shotover rivers, where these amazing New Zealand-invented craft execute seemingly impossible manoeuvres. Queenstown is also the world capital and home of bungy jumping.

In winter, pristine powder runs are just over the hills. There are four world-renowned ski fields within easy reach, with tons of snow to ski, snowboard and play in.

On nearby Lake Wakatipu, the vintage TSS Earnslaw has been beautifully restored to its original condition and takes visitors on daily trips.

The area has great rainbow trout, brown trout and quinnat salmon fishing, with the lake open year-round. Keen golfers shouldn't miss out on an opportunity to play some of the most scenic courses in the world, at award-winning Milbrook Resort, Kelvin Heights, Arrowtown and Frankton.

Close to Queenstown are the Gibbston Valley and Chard Farm vineyards. Don't miss historic Arrowtown with its quaint, tree-lined streets, miners cottages and the High Street preserved as they were during the 19th century gold rush era, just a 20 minute drive away.

Don't Miss
Historic Arrowtown
Scenically spectacular Glenorchy
TSS Earnslaw cruise
Scenic flightseeing
Winery visit
Adventure activities: bungy jumping, jetboating, skiing, white water rafting, fly by wire, and many more.

Fiordland

Location
Fiordland comprises the rugged, glaciated country and fiords in the south-west corner of the South Island.

General
Te Anau is the gateway to the world-famous Fiordland National Park, a World Heritage Area covering nearly 1.2 million hectares. Fiordland represents nature on a grand scale, where waterfalls tumble hundreds of metres into pristine, forested valleys, and glacier-carved fiords indent its coastal boundaries.

Main Attractions/Activities
The road to Milford Sound, which traverses Fiordland National Park below massive peaks and bluffs, is considered one of the finest alpine drives in the world. Arriving at Milford, visitors are confronted by the most famous of New Zealand icons - the majestic Mitre Peak.

As roads provide access to only a relatively small part of Fiordland, flightseeing provides one of the best ways to really appreciate this vast wilderness. Flights are available from either Te Anau or Milford. Taking the road one way and flying the other adds variety.

Fiordland National Park also contains five of the country's best-known hiking trails, ranging from half-day nature walks to three-day walks on well-established tracks. Other activities in the Te Anau area include sea kayaking, diving, cycling, golf, fishing, sailing, swimming, hunting and visits to spectacular glow-worm caves.
If you have time to cruise the sounds, you will be surrounded by mountain peaks and towering sheer granite cliffs from which spectacular waterfalls plunge to the sea below. This is the realm of playful bottlenose dolphins, fur seals and gulls. Milford Sound is the most famous, but Doubtful Sound - the deepest - is also easily accessible.

Visitors to this vast, remote area, practically untouched by humans, are often overwhelmed by the incredible solitude and serenity of Fiordland.

Don't Miss
Te Ana-au Caves and walks
Milford Sound trip and cruise
Underwater Observatory, Milford Sound
Lake Manapouri cruise
Doubtful Sound trip and cruise
Hiking one of the renowned walks

Main Centre
Te Anau - for restaurants and accommodation

Video Clip
View a short video clip of the Southern Lakes Region, (WMV file, 1MB)
Courtesy of www.newzealand.com.

With the wide variety of Heritage & Character Inns NZ luxury hotels, farmstays and b&b accommodation located in these amazing spots, you're never far from the next highlight in your kiwi experience.

"Heritage & Character Inns - promoting NZ luxury accommodation since 1994."