Wanaka’s Attractions As A Year-Round Resort

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31500, 14 October 1967, Page 24

Wanaka’s Attractions As A Year-Round Resort

Wmka has an average of 25 inches of rain in a year and only seven inches of that total faNs in daylight. AD last week tcßyeratures «« ha the 70s and eariy visitors agreed that ft is, or should he, * yearrmmd resort. Wanaka is now ktginning to sell “sunshine, scenery, and serenity in springtin&” The town will make noth more of its crystal clear days, its quietness in the off season, andits unspoiled beauty.

The Tourist Hotel Corporation's Wameka Hotel is freely adaaitted to ta?e been the ” taming point in . Winekn’s fortune*. Opened rm November 2t, IDM, it now ha • capital value of $BOO,OOO, provide* up to 70 guests with wucidetaMsß accommodation, and has most bedrooms, the boose tier and diningroom looking over the magmtaot take (data. ■He room occupancy rate is now 5> per cent over the whole year, with DO per cent of guests coming from within New Zealand- “This gives the lie to the idea that accommodation of this standard is only for rich overseas tour-

ists,” uid the -manager (Mr A. Withington). The W«naka Hotel 16 leading the drive to attract spring viaitor*. It i* uauaUy full through the Dummer but has (lack periods la winter. “But Wahaka depends most on its scenery and it is there all the year,” said Mr Withtngton. “Even in winter the days are warm after frosts.”

Ttaee-Day Stays Mr Withington, who has identified himself with the town, and many others are concerned that w many “pas* through Wanaka” not realising that there is any amount to occupy s* least three days. Those who stay a Week or more relax better and enjoy the freedom from noise and bustle. In the last few week* It has become clear that more New Zealanders are making Wanaka a centre for early holiday*. They use it m a base for side trips whether they are travelling through the Haast ftss, to Queenstown, To Anau and Milford, or through the Llndis Pass to Canterbury, or through Central Otago to Dunedin. The opening of the Haast Pass highway gave Wanaka a big boost. A traffic tally by the Tourist Department last January showed a 28 per cent increase on the previous January from 7272 vehicles to 9276. Cars formed the bulk but tourist coaches also

increased. At Makaroru it vru found that 96 per cent were travelling from Otago and 44 per cent from Westtend. Twothirds were camping or caravanning. Hotels and motels got only on* sixth of them. Friends* and relatives’ home* provided about 5 per cent bf the accommodation. Of $ll these 88 per cent visited Wanaka instead of diverting outside the town.

Many Hatten art traveling by motor coach. This remorea the tedium of driving and buses auth 8 timae of the Mount Cook and Southern Irtaa Tonriat Company have (ix-feet-wide observation window*, are duaMree, and heated when required.

Mr J. B. Scurr, chairman of the Wanaka County Town Committee, farms in the Cardrena Valley but his heart and his home are now in the Wanaka township. “As an old resident I’m keen to see the place go ahead,” he said. “Talk about locals hating tourists is buncombe. Visitor* give many here their liveHbood, we enjoy meeting them, and we are ail keen to share our scenic gems.” A revised town-planning scheme started last week. “We will zone for residential, light and heavy industrial, and commercial use,” said Mr Scurr. “Local and holiday homes development will have to be controlled, half a dozen neW shops have been built, new tearooms opened, there

are four garages in place of one, so you see how tike town is grovrtng. Wo want thia to be orderly. Problems Of Progrere “Progrem brings its problems," said Mr Scurr. “This town's population rose from 400 to 600 between the last censuses. We were not geared to handle 10,000 to 12,000 visitors at Christmas. Now we. re getting ready for them. “We find Wanaka’s visitors spilling over from summer into autumn and would like to see them start earlier in the apring. Thia would apread the load and gives new angles at different seasons. Staggered holidays would help us considerably.” Extensive road sealing has been done in and around Wanaka. The County Town Committee wants to do more &‘ , s7“sa2 p ’fix Board has bore deferred. There is considerable local

satisfaction at the promise of the Minister of Electricity (Mr Shand) on July 13 that Lake Wanaka’s "natural level” will net be changed if the water is ever used for power. “We depend on the flat’,” said Mr Scurr. “It’s one of our attraction* for the elderly and others who cant take hills.” As an earnest of Mr Shand’s promise, the town wants him to release the 26acre reserve opposite the waterfront held for possible power purposes. “The big problem is that Wanaka functions as a rural community for tone months of the year but has highdensity urban problems for the three summer months,” said Mr David Johnston, a Mosgiel surveyor who last week began revising, the Wanaka town - planning scheme. “Handling an influx of 10,000 to 12,000 is a big load for a community of 000,” he Mid. The commercial area was not really developed; Mr Johnston said. One of his tasks would be to recommend where it should be concentrated. More Building

More difficult still was prediction of Wanaka’s character in 20 yean. Residential development should be contained without spoiling lake amenities. Holiday housing had to be controlled. Industry was bound to develop. “Wanaka has caught things in time for all this to be done in an orderly manner,” said Mr Johnston. The Lakes County building inspector (Mr I. F. Swindley), at the request of The Press,” took out building permit figures for Wanaka in the last five years. They are right

up to date, the years ending on September 30:—1963: 52, Other indicators of development was drawn from the experience of Mr Scurr. Five years ago Ms Merino wool cHp kt '-'Spotts Creek” was 80 bales. Now, with aerial topdressing and' sowing, it is 150 bales. In 1946 quarter-acre Wanaka sections cost £75. In the wool boom ,of 1956 Mr Scurr had money to invest and ehose shares in preference to sections at £2OO a quarter acre in Wanaka. Today similar sections are bringing £lOOO to £l5OO. Mr Murray Howson, a young man from New Brigh•He , said th* town ' was “bobked solid” from Deceto ber 23 until the -beginning pf ■ February. •: '■' \ J Accommodation Apart from the Wanaka Hotel thqtW ’are three guest houses, ifl - motels 1 rangtog ftbm ■■ llshments and some private board offering about 273 beds. Hundreds more rte-tim

.Tfft. ». MU an emergency scheme by which strandgd travellers can get some sort pt shelter for the night - Mr Howson is one of the younger businessmen of Wanaka. He runs a souvenir shop. Others include Mr and Mrs R. Sawyer who make leathergoods from local skins, Malcolm Jackson (aged 18) makes, gemstone ware and

(probably the best known) is Mr Brian Halliday, the Kelliher Art Prize winner Whose paintings of the district are tn nmwilar demand. Others who make Wanaka a bare include the deer

shooters who send 90 to 100 bodim a week to th* two venison packing plants in the area. Helicopters have revohrttonised both the shooting and extraction of deer from tiie high country. One record quoted in the town is 147 in a day. Also among the new generatiod of buslnemmsp are the pilots of small aeroplanes and amphibians which rail frequently on charter flights in th* sesson. New Lemich A new Crusader launch will go on the water hr Late Wanaka in mid-Docember. at a cruising speed of 22)

knots. It will be powered by • two 370-horsepower diesel engines. The owner (Mr W. . Taylor) admitted this was a big outlay but said that bookings up to two years ahead would meet his repayments for that period. Mr Taylor is planning a new venture with the new Crusader. He aims to pick up tourists at Makaroca at the head of the lake and bring them down the 32 miles to Wanaka in on* hour 25 minutes to rejoin their bus if they are not stopping. This trip will also bo done in reverse. The Wanaka Islands Domain Board—it takes its name from Ruby,. Pigeon, Ram and Stevenson’s Islands in the lake-r slso controls about 10 miles of the foreshore. The total area of its reservM is 1500 acres, ail Crown, land. “We are in a funny position that, to spite of all this, our revenue apart from camping ground fee* is only' 8260 a year,” said, the chairman (Mr J. R. Wilson). “Yet wt now plan to spend 82000 at year on maintenance and improvements.” The Domain Board’s reserves include the town motor camp which holds up to 2000 people at the peak of the season, the football and cricket grounds and associ-

ated Agricultural and Pastoral Association showgrounds; the golf links, let to the local club for a nominal rental in return for maintenance and improvements; . a 40«cre plantation of pine and Oregon above the east end of the town; the Eeiey Point picnic ground and boat harbour, where facilities have been increased; and the long waterfront abutting the town which is most familiar to visitors. Here plenic tables, barbecue pits, new boat jetties, and miniature golf are recent additions. This week the Domain Board, Improvement Society,

Garden Club, and Mount Aspiring National Park Board will send representatives to a meeting to design an overall planting and beautification programme. Wanaka also has the Gleodhu Bay camp and the private Penrith camp. In the litter area the Domain Board plans to form another 100acre motor cajnp when the present lease mcplres in July next year. It nill be two mil** from the town- ’ National Ptark ' Mouni Aspiring Nstionll Parit ’Hoart btadduarters at tbe Cpprtach to Wanate proW&’KSSfW. ■ fww «r I Arthurt Pass, Ms pins tor • > of Imaginative national daA , thinking |n New Zealand,” KWWSS? ! Pam.” i f **.

The Wanaka Hotel gardens (three acres and a half) have become one of the show places of the South Island. Naturally - contoured latvn* with rock outcrops drop down to a stream with a waterfall and pond which is a wildlife refuge. All round scarlet tulips, thousands of anemones, daffodils, hyacinths, violas, wallflowers, Iceland poppies, polyanthus and shrubs are now in bloom. Wanaka has the Tourist Hotel Corporation’s nursery for the South Island with more then 10,000 trees and shrubs, half of them natives. TV Available Wanaka folk have usually made their own entertainment Television came two years ago through the initiative bf a Televiewers’ Society in which 160 members paid $2O, put a translator 5200 feet up near the summit <rf Mount Roy across the bay, put four

other translators “for pockets in the town,” and got excellent reception from th* Hedgehope translator Mar Invereargill. “A long way roundr a lot of relays, put worth It,” said the president (Mr J. W. Hogan). He estimates there are another 200 to 250 sets in the district benefiting from others’ expense;; Members affairs, the NZH.C. now helping considerably. Moving spirit in all this was Mr J. Bell who is now secretary of ‘ the society.. . , But the Wanaka Hotel offers neither television nor radio in its lounges or Private, rooms. “Our guests say they prefer quietness, converse-. tion, and getting away from--it all,” said Mr Withington. So Wanaka in 1967 is preparing to recieve more and more visitors who enjoy its kind of philosophy, appreciate good facilities, but do not demand the high-powered push of the usual tourist resort