99 Ardmore Street, Wanaka, Queenstown-Lakes
Wanaka used to be called Pembroke until 1940, it's origins in the gold mining rush of the 1860s.
Spectacular scenery is a feature of this popular Central Otago holiday resort. Peter Jackson filmed the mountains you see looking across the lake from the village and a hill past Glendhu Bay on the road to the Matukituki Valley.
Wanaka is a base for a multitude of adventure activities.- Kayaking, Mountain Biking, Tandem Skydives, Paragliding, Eco-rafting, Riversledging, Canyoning, Rock Climbing, Wilderness Jet -boating and Horse Trekking and of course skiing whether it be Down-hill, Cross-country or Heli-skiing.
"The approach to Wanaka from the east is awe-inspiring. You drive along golden river terraces, cross the blue-green and deceptively calm-looking Clutha River (it has the largest water flow of all NZ rivers) and approach stately mountains that rise directly out of the lake or surrounding flat land. Maori legend recounts that chief Te Rakaihaitu dug out the beds of lakes Wanaka and Hawea, Where he threw the earth, the mountains grew. The geological explanation attributes the features of the land to glaciation. About 20,00 years ago, sheets of ice covered all except the highest mountains in the Southern Alps, and huge glaciers flowed east and west of the mountains. Fed by ice rivers from Makarora, Hawea and the Matukituki, the Wanaka Glacier pushed down into the Upper Clutha towards Cromwell, scooping out the bed of Lake Wanaka. The rocks embedded in the ice acted like rasps scraping and smoothing the rock underneath. Rifleman, fantail, tomtit and bellbird live in the forest and, among the red beech, parakeets are common. On the river flats you will hear the raucous cries of paradise ducks and see the distinctive pair of birds - the female with a white head, the male with a black one. Spur wing plovers, an Australian species, are also common in the river beds.
Towards the west, where the rainfall is high, beech forests climb from the valleys and snow tussock grasslands flourish above the bushline. Deer are still found on the lower slopes of the mountains and in the bush; chamois and thar are in such plentiful numbers on the upper slopes that they’re considered a pest and hunters are encouraged to reduce their numbers because of the damage they do to endangered plants. They also add to the risk of erosion by eating the vegetation that holds the thin soils together."
Lake Wanaka by Blair Greg
Lake Wanaka Print by Contour Creative Studio
Image Credits: Derek Smith and Maclean Barker Photographers, Contour Creative Studio, Blair Greg and Viator
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