XXXXXXXXXXXX(XXXXXXXXX)MAY 2018 | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA 95
NEW ZEALANDBy my second day in Wanaka, Queenstown’s high-octane
energy almost wears off. Walking along willow-lined Lake
Wanaka becomes a twice-a-day ritual, one that includes
watching hopefuls trying to get the perfect shot of what Kiwis
call “that Wanaka tree.” The bent willow rising from the waters
with the Southern Alps in the backdrop is claimed to be the
most photographed tree in New Zealand. When I learn that I
have missed front row tickets to the aurora australis by just one
day, I experience only the mildest regret.
Unlike Chris’s 4WD in Queenstown, Mark Orbell’s three-
hour Land Rover drive promises no stunts. “But it’ll be
a Wanaka that even 99 per cent of locals haven’t
seen,” he claims, when I meet him one morning.
It sounds like a tall order, but I begin to see
what he means when we leave behind the
45-kilometre-long, 1,000-foot-deep glacial
Lake Wanaka behind. Driving past the
Matukituki Valley and the eponymous,
emerald river, we enter West Wanaka
Station. The 30,000-acre private farm
is unchanged since the 1850s and doesn’t
allow visitors except those brought in by
Mark’s company, Ridgeline Adventures.
It might have something to do with be-
ing surrounded by meadows and sheep being
sheared, but I begin to feel pleasantly isolated. We
drive deeper into the farm, into a very different world.
The higher Mark goes, the more of the 3,000 resident red deer
and 12,000 sheep grazing below emerge amid green-gold
plains. Wispy pink manuka trees look like cotton candy,
and the mountains have their heads in the mist.
At the summit, I step out onto a stretch of alpine
tussock grassland, a sight I will never forget. About
100 feet in front of me is the Rocky Mountain,
and we are separated by a carpet of cloud—a
thick inversion layer at my feet. I haven’t seen
anything quite like it—this play of gold,
white, and black in various states of matter.
Wanaka’s surprise doesn’t end here. After
the drive, I take a scenic flight that goes
round the “Matterhorn of the South.” We
delve deep into the national park and fly
above glaciers, silver beech forests and
clear pools reminiscent of blue curaçao.
Rocky mounds rise from the water like
hairy backs of giants. Slowly, we approach
the 10,000-foot Mount Aspiring, which
is perennially snow white. Circling the
Toblerone-shaped mountain, I think of all
those who came before me: the Maori who
crossed this region to go west, the Europe-
ans who drew up maps, and miners and set-
tlers who shaped this valley to what it is today.
I feel like a speck amid this wilderness magicked millennia
ago, and love the feeling to bits.
(www.ridgelinenz.com; drive adults
NZD249/`11,885, children
NZD130/`6,200; http://www.
southernalpsair.
co.nz; flight adults
NZD290/`13,840,
children NZD205/
`9,800.)¾HEIGHTS OF WONDER
A farm drive in Wanaka takes visitors into a 168-year-
old property, where they can feed the resident alpacas
(bottom, top left); A ride over the pyramidal, snow-crusted
Mt. Aspiring (top left) is the perfect end to the day.