New Zealand 2013 Wanaka/Queenstown
Hey guys.
I’m keen on heading over to New Zealand for a week or two this year to do some snowboarding.
I’m leaning towards Wanaka and Treble Cone but was looking for recommendations on what you guys enjoyed and prefer over there.
I also need help on travel and lift passes etc.
- Is it best to fly Brisbane to Queenstown and drive to Wanaka?
- How does the lift pass system work over in NZ? I see that there’s different types of lift passes for different ski areas?
- Any preferred lodging in Wanaka?
- Which ski areas do you guys love most and why?
I’m looking to head over August or September, currently Virgin have flights for $250-300 each way.
Any other advice would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
xd.
Hey!
In around March, Jetstar has flights to christchurch on sale for around $320 return (from sydney that is). I’m sure it wouldn’t be too much more expensive to go for brisbane? Anyway that might be something to think about. Flights direct to queenstown are usually more expensive than to christchurch and queenstown is also a bit more expensive to hire cars from than christchurch. It takes 5 hours to drive from c-church to wanaka.
What sort of riding do you like to do?
Treble Cone is really, really good on powder days & for free-riding, but my own personal opinion is that it isn’t too much fun apart from that….but I’m more into riding park & get a bit bored just riding slopes.
Cardrona is a super fun all-around resort. Has fun park stuff and lots of different areas and slopes to ride. Last time I was there (2011) you could buy a lift pass for 5 or 7 or whatever days which you could use at either resort, which is a pretty good option to have, as you can try both and then keep riding at whatever one you like. Otherwise like most other places, you can just buy passes a day at a time for a specific resort or a week at a time or whatever!
The other Wanaka option is my personal favourite - Snow Park. Millions of features and something for all levels of riding. I improve every single day I ride there, which means I have heaps of fun! They also do really good beginner lessons there at cheaper prices than the other resorts, and nowhere near as crowded (if you have friends who are just learning or whatever). The park lessons are really good there as well, so if you’re just interested in park riding, but haven’t done it much, it can be a great place to go….same goes even if you are more experienced!
Heading over the crown range road (take it super easy when driving this road) to the queenstown area (about 45-1hr drive) and you’ll have a lot of fun if you visit The Remarkables, which is another good all-round resort!
Are you going by yourself, with 1-2 others or more?
A good option that can be heaps cheaper than hotels and a bit more homely than youth hostels is to hire a holiday house.
Check out holidayhouses.co.nz. When we went in 2011, we had around 8 of us and we got an awesome house close to wanaka and it worked out to be about $25 a night each.
You don’t HAVE to, but I recommend getting an AWD or 4WD if you’re hiring a car. If there is a group of you then a Subaru wagon of some sort is really good, as you can have 4 of you in the car, and a seat folded down with everyone’s boards & everything fits nicely.
The roads up to the resorts in NZ have improved in recent years, but they can still be a bit dodgy. We went with the cheapest car we could find the first year (2010) and then decided it would be worth a few extra bucks a day for the piece of mind of having an AWD or 4WD.
As I said, it is by no means a requirement but its just something you can think about.
Hope that helps a bit!
Everything cords has said.
I prefer staying in Wanaka over Queenstown, not as busy, more of a chilled out atmosphere.
Ride, TC, Cardies and SP for sure. Maybe spend a few nights in QT and do a bit of the bungy stuff etc etc.
Definitely get an AWD / 4WD hire car.
New Zealand is awesome, even if the snow is average, its just a beautiful place to drive around taking in the postcard views.
Oh, yeah, I would fly in and out of QT rather than CH.
Thanks for the info guys.
My gf and I recently went snowboarding for the first time last year (Perisher in July) and loved it with about 20 friends.
This time round I think it may end up just being her and I, as everyone else is busy around the time we want to go.
Currently I’m not fussed in terms of park or mountain riding, I’m happy taking in sights/scenery etc although jibbing and tricks are fun. If Cardrona/TC et al covers a few different things then it could make the week/fortnight interesting.
TY regarding Christchurch, will probably weigh up drive time vs flight and car rental between QT/CC.
From what I gather, Remarkables will be on a different ski pass than Cardona/TC? Something about NZ one pass and NZ super pass?
TY again.
The big question which needs to be asked before you decide on your NZ itinerary and destinations, is are you a confident, experienced 4WD driver?
If you are, it opens up way more interesting possibilities for you.
If I was going two weeks I’d fly into Christchurch, get an AWD car, then hit up a few of the club fields on the way to Wanaka and Queenstown. Once there you can hit up all of the resorts and doing many other fun things to. Then fly out of Queenstown for home.
I would travel to Arthurs Pass, West Coast (Glaciers)then down to Wanaka and then finish at Queenstown.
If you are beginner snowboarders, I would probably steer away from club fields until you are comfortable riding T bars.
What everyone else has said is pretty gold.
Personally I’d fly into Christchurch for the cheaper flights and car hire.
The views from Christchurch to Wanaka/Queenstown are amazing and totally worth the trek if you haven’t done it before. There are quite a few romantic spots on the way and you could totally hit up places like Ohau or Mt Hutt on the way. (Ohau has a chairlift and a t-bar, and is classed as 1/2 club field 1/2 commercial. It has amazing terrain and will be relatively free of travellers.) There is also a hot springs around there which is totally worth hitting up. (was snowing when we were there).
If you are planning for 2 weeks, it might be worth going with something more like this:
Day 1. Fly into Christchurch, book 2 nights. Sleep after you arrive
Day 2. Go to Mt Hutt on the first day and then back to Christchurch.
Day 3. Go to Ohau and hit up the hot springs. Book 1 night accomodation near the hot springs
Days 4-8. Go to Wanaka and hit up TC and Cardy (maybe have a break day in here to allow feet to recover and check out Wanaka. There is a great Mexican place in Wanaka.)
Day 9. Go to Milford Sound. Fjords are apparantly amazing and totally worth the trip.
Day 10-13. Go to Queenstown and hit up Ferg Burger / Coronet Peaks / Remarkables and go Bungee Jumping or other activities
Day 14. Drive back to Christchurch and fly home.
Or if you don’t want to think about your trip, you could always look into these guys: Haka Tours
Here is my trip report from going with them which was a pretty amazing trip!
https://www.boardworld.com.au/forums/viewthread/1989/
(Photos don’t link anymore but I can fish them up if you want to see them).
Where you fly into doesn’t matter, just check the prices and find out what suits you. The cost of fuel from Chch and back will probably end up being similar to the extra cost of flights and rental anyway.
Check the Jucy rentals as the owner of that company also has stakes in TC and offers a buy one get one free deal (or some other similar deal) when renting their vehicles. You can also get deals on the Milford Cruise when renting through them too I believe.
Tj’s plan isn’t bad but you’d be better off staying the night in Methven than driving back to Chch due to the fuel prices. Hutt is also a small hill that can get boring quick due to its limited terrain - Porters is right next door though. Also avoid Ohau if you’re not a confident winter driver (and Remarkables for that matter, but you can get a bus up there) - The Ohau road is about 7km of one way switchbacks, and the field is hardly worth the effort for anything less than experienced riders.
As for the passes, TC, Cardys, Porters, Ohau, SnowPark and maybe Rainbow or Craigieburn? All work on the same Ski pass system called a “One Pass”. Hutt, Remarks and Coros are the same company so they work on a different pass. Don’t worry about this too much unless you’re buying a cheap deal package, but as I remember you only get $5 off each extra day you purchase on the One Pass, and it is non refundable if you don’t use it. You can use the credit on extra activities around town but you may as well be paying in cash and not risk the fact you will leave the country with unused “snow dollars” left on your pass.
NZ fields are very hit and miss with weather, so booking far out can be a bit of a gamble if you don’t like rain or wind, or flat light for that matter.
TC is a steep hill with limited beginner/easy intermediate terrain and mainly a hill for riding off trail. Queues mainly only happen on powder days and sunny weekends, otherwise you’ll virtually never wait more than a minute to get on one of two lifts.
Cardys is flat but basically the family hill where anyone can find anything they like - expect it to be busier than other fields though.
Snowpark is a small hill with only park features that will keep you happy if you enjoy park.
Coronet is the lowest hill in NZ and often icy and hard. The terrain isn’t varied but will keep you happy for at least one or two days of riding. Due to it’s low altitude and easy access the lines here may also be a bit bigger than other places.
If you’re a relative beginner, I’d give Treble Cone a miss.
I’d only been boarding for 4 or 5 days before we went Treble Cone. Lasted about 2 hours and bailed on the whole thing for the day. It killed my confidence. Even the beginner run wasn’t much fun as it snakes down the mountain but isn’t very wide and you spend the whole time with eyes glued to the drop offs on the edge. The blues over near the left lift are pretty steep.
My pick was Cardrona for sure. Plenty of terrain to cover to let you build confidence.
i have done both (fly to ChCh and drive down and fly direct to QT)
Fly to Qt mate, screw wasting your time driving (unless you want ot check out the club fields)
And the first thing you must do when arriving in QT is go to Fergburger. Dont ask just do it and you will understand.
Thanks for all the info guys. It’s a big help.
There is a nice package deal from http://ozsnowadventures.com.au/mates-rates-deals/
Has anyone stayed at Reaver’s Lodge before? Online reviews seem mixed.
Personally, I’m just after a place to sleep/shower but the missus might feel different.
Also, some mates are keen so when numbers are decided, might end up going the holiday house path.
Yep, we stayed at Reaver’s lodge in 2010. It was great. We paid about $8 or something extra a night and got our own room with an ensuite, rather than sharing a dorm. Simple, clean comfortable rooms. Had a mini fridge & a kettle. (Yay for Noodle in a cup dinners!) Management were nice and let us check-in early as our room had already been cleaned.
I’d rather stay in Wanaka, though…but just my personal preference.
Do you want to party?
If so stay in QT,
Do you want to party?
If so stay in QT,
Personally, I don’t mind either way. But at this stage it looks like some mates and mates of mates are keen as well so it will probably end of being majority rules. I sleep through anything so some rowdy party-goers won’t keep me up unless they’re literally partying on my bed =P. But most likely, I’ll just be exhausted from a full day of boarding so it won’t matter.
At this stage, I think the group is planning a week in QT. But before hand the gf and I are going to fly to Christchurch, and over 2/3 days make our way to QT and meet them there. Stopping Mt Hutt/Ohau/Wanaka on the way.
Edit: Can anyone recommend a snowboard hire place? Looking to hire for myself just a board w/ bindings and for the gf board/bindings/boots. Looking to hire for Wanaka maybe 2 days and then 7 days Queenstown.
Currently looking at http://www.outsidesports.co.nz/