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Alpine Resort 1 Bedroom apartment 1 Bedroom apartment fully equipped designer kitchen, comfortable lounge and dining area and bathroom with underfloor heating		See More Room Types
Belvedere Apartments 2 Bedroom Luxury Apartment 2 Bedroom Luxury Apartment Fully equipped kitchen with dishwasher and microwave Washing machine and dryer FREE Cable TV Swimming pool and BBQ Lift to all levels Guest phone and fax facilities Security parking Individual lock-up garage Security intercom system Linen included Apartments serviced weekly		See More Room Types

Check availabilty of Wanaka apartments. Reset your dates in the red box

 

• Alpine Resort Wanaka,

  150 - 154 Anderson Road, Wanaka
  1, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments in a tranquil setting 1.5 km from central Wanaka. Lots of space for families with a tennis court, BBQ area spa & pool.
  
  
   
  
   

• Belvedere Apartments

  29 Warren Street, Wanaka
  2 & 3 bedroom apartments, just 200 metres from central Wanaka and the lakefront. Many offer balconies with lake views.
  
  
  
   

Sightseeing

• Visit Puzzling World and Maze, 2 hours

• Skiing at Treble Cone or Cardrona snowfields, all day

• Trek to see the Rob Roy Glacier, full day

• Cruise to Mou Whau Island in the centre of the lake, half day

• Visit New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum, 3 hours

• Canyoning in Deep Canyon, full day

• Take a scenic flight around Mt Aspiring, 45 minutes

• Flight, walk and jetboat in the Siberia Valley, half day
  

Drive Times

Wanaka – Queenstown, 1 hour
Wanaka – Tekapo, 3 hours
Wanaka – Christchurch, 6.5 hours

Wanaka Population: 5,000

Nestled on the shores of beautiful Lake Wanaka, this small town enjoys wonderful alpine scenery and four distinct seasons, each bringing a fresh view.  Quieter than its near neighbour Queenstown, Wanaka likes to think of itself as the sophisticated alternative.  Surrounded by towering mountains and blessed with a picture postcard lakefront, the town is a centre for outdoor activities.  An excellent winery and many boutique crops such as olives, nuts and truffles add to the culinary delights on offer in local restaurants.

History and Culture

Early Otago Maori used local passes to reach the greenstone (pounamu) on the West Coast.  There were small Maori settlements (kianga) at Wanaka and Hawea, mostly camping places for the summer fishing and fowling.  These kianga were mostly wiped out by a northern Maori war party in 1836.

In 1853 Nathaniel Chalmers, guided by Chief Reko, is believed to have been the first European to see the lakes, returning to the east coast on a rush raft (mokihi) down the Clutha River.  However, Chief Te Huruhuru at Waimate drew a sketch map of the lake and its surrounds for a Mr Shortland earlier than this.  Accurate maps were produced by the early surveyors E. Jollkie, W.S. Young and J. McKerrow by 1861.

In 1857 John Turnbull Thomson travelled via the Lindis Pass to the peak he named Grandview.  Thomson also named Mt Aspiring and Mt Pisa.  Soon after came John McLean who took up Morven Hills Station and Robert Wilkin who took up the run at Albert Town.  Most Wanaka runs were taken up by the end of 1858.

Soon after, the gold rushes in Central Otago brought a huge demand for the timber at the lake and large amounts of sawn lengths from Makarora and Matukituki were floated down the Clutha to Cromwell and Clyde.  Then gold was discovered in the Cardrona Valley, and hundreds of miners were ferried across the Clutha at Albert Town.  The main Cardrona claims were named the Gin and Raspberry, the Pirate and the Homeward Bound.  However, the major discoveries on the West Coast saw most move out and by the late 1870’s most of the European, and the Chinese miners who followed them, had gone.

The first survey of the township now known as Wanaka, was completed in 1863.  The town at the time was named Pembroke, after a British Colonial Secretary.  In 1867 Theodore Russell built the first hotel at Lake Wanaka. With the hotel and the weekly boat tours round the lake associated with it, the future of Pembroke was assured.  Other early landholders were Charles and Mabel Barker and Robert McDougall.  The town of Pembroke was renamed Wanaka in 1940.

For more information about Wanaka and the region click through to our Discover New Zealand Queenstown & Southland Region section