Lake Wanaka Tourism

  • It’s a (sled) dog’s life

    It’s a (sled) dog’s life

    Sled dog racing is a thing in New Zealand, and it’s growing in paw-pularity. ACCORDING TO AMERICAN HUMOURIST LEWIS GRIZZARD, “LIFE IS LIKE A DOG SLED TEAM. IF YOU AIN’T THE LEAD DOG, THE SCENERY NEVER CHANGES.” GOOD POINT, LEWIS. ALTHOUGH I’M NOT SURE I’D WANT TO BE FRONT MUTT IN THE EVENT MOST OFTEN

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  • Just ski faster

    Just ski faster

    FORGET THE FROTHY NEW WAVE TUNES OF THE EIGHTIES. DOWN IN THE SOUTHERN LAKES, WE WERE MAKING OUR OWN WAVE. MULLETED BUG- EYED ADRENALINE SEEKERS, DIY-ING OUR KIT, BUSH-BASHING, SKIING, PADDLING AND, OFTEN, SWIMMING, UP AND DOWN OUR MOUNTAINS, THOUGH OUR FORESTS, IN OUR RIVERS. BEFORE THE DAYS OF CORPORATE TEAMS AND SPONSORED ATHLETES, WITH

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  • Burning issues

    Burning issues

    According to William Shakespeare, the fire that’s closest kept burns most of all. Allan Uren investigates. FORAGING FOR FIREWOOD IS HARD WORK. AS THE SAYING GOES, IT WARMS YOU TWICE. OR, AS WĀNAKA FIREWOOD ENTHUSIAST TOM O’DONNELL LIKES TO SAY, IT ACTUALLY WARMS YOU FIVE TIMES: CUTTING DOWN THE TREE, RINGING IT, SPLITTING IT, STACKING

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  • Second hand news

    Second hand news

    The 1964 guide to the top op shops of the south. WALK IN WARDROBE – QUEENSTOWN One of the very few upsides to living in a region where people move away all of the time is that those people often leave great clothes behind. Queenstown’s Walk in Wardrobe is like rummaging through your mate’s closet

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  • Alpine soundscapes

    Alpine soundscapes

    In 1998, the Rippon festival brought New Zealand music to the mountains of Wanaka for the first time. Twenty years later, TUKI festival is taking homegrown to new heights. No one said it would be easy. A loss here, a legal tussle there, the trials of the digital age. But Wanaka’s TUKI music festival, and

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  • A portrait of an artist in a small town

    A portrait of an artist in a small town

    Wanaka-based artist Stephen Martyn Welch paints people, because people deserve to be painted. PORTRAITURE. IT GETS A BAD RAP. FOR MANY, THE WORD EVOKES POWDERY ARISTOCRATS IN RUFF COLLARS, GREY AND WHITE CEOS LINING THE WALLS OF GREY AND WHITE BOARDROOMS, AND THE QUEEN. STEPHEN MARTYN WELCH (KNOWN LOCALLY AS MARTY) IS A PORTRAIT ARTIST,

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  • Pleasure and plunder: A short history of Mount Aspiring National Park

    Pleasure and plunder: A short history of Mount Aspiring National Park

    The “public pleasuring ground” that is Mount Aspiring National Park was established in 1964.  These 3562 square kilometres hold rambling rivers, pointed peaks and more stories than a kea could pick at. Established in 1964, Mount Aspiring National Park was New Zealand’s tenth national park (there are now thirteen) and it’s arguably the most diverse.

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  • Yoga my ass

    Yoga my ass

    Nathan’s been on Instagram. He’s salty. LET’S DISCUSS. YOUR INSTAGRAM JOB TITLE SAYS YOGA INFLUENCER, BUT YOU’RE SENDING ME HIGH-DEF VALENCIA-FILTERED PHOTOS OF A BIKINI-CLAD BODY. DON’T GET ME WRONG; YOU ARE ROCKING THE HELL OUT OF THAT TWO-PIECE. YOU SHOULD BE PROUD, AND I’LL GLADLY DONATE TEN CENTS TO HAVE A PICTURE OF YOUR

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  • Chapter One

    Chapter One

    Welcome to 1964: mountain culture / aotearoa

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