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Cardrona Beginners Package
Collect your rental car
This tour can be priced with any of the rental cars available in our fantastic range, from economy hatchbacks to prestige saloons and SUV's.
Queenstown to Wanaka
Leaving Queenstown you head over New Zealand's highest sealed road, Crown Range Road before dropping into Wanaka.
Arrive into Wanaka and collect your lift pass
Welcome to Wanaka for your winter ski or snowboarding holiday. It’s not just the skiing that makes Wanaka a fantastic winter destination, there’s also the spectacular scenery, amazing adventures, and endless activities to keep you entertained when you’re not on the slopes. After each action-packed day, you’ll also find a superb variety of cafes and restaurants to relax and refuel at. Today we recommend you visit the Cardrona x Treble Cone Wanaka Office (located at 50 Cardrona Valley Road, Wanaka) and collect your lift pass. This will save you heaps of time tomorrow as you’ll avoid the morning queues and can head straight to the mountain with more time to ski and ride.
Your accommodation: The Moorings Wanaka
The Moorings Apartments are just 5 minutes’ from Wanaka’s town centre and offer lakeside accommodation with open views of the mountains and stunning Lake Wanaka. It's an easy walk to the bustling main street of Wanaka or take a stroll around the lake.
Driving distance and time (approximate) for this driving leg is: 60 kms / 37 miles : 0.9 hours
Cardrona - First Timer Day Package
Cardrona is perfect for first timers with easy learner lifts and wide open beginner trails with beautiful views. This package includes rental equipment, a learner's area ski lift pass, and two group lessons with a professional instructor. Your 2-hour morning lesson teaches the basics, including how to master sliding, stopping, and turning safely and effectively on gentle slopes. The 2-hour afternoon lesson is to further develop your skills and to support you as you explore more terrain.
Cardrona Rental Clothing & Accessories
Make life simpler and hire your clothing for Cardrona ski field up the mountain. Cardrona has a huge range of the latest ski and snowboard gear for a great day out. Hire up the mountain and have the option of dropping off in Wanaka or Queenstown at the end of your ski holiday.
Wanaka Self-guided Short Walks
Waterfall Creek Track
A must when you visit Wanaka, the track starts from the west end of Roys Bay and soon reaches Wānaka Station Park, a beautiful picnic area, on the left. The track then winds along the lake's western shores for superb views and a great photo opportunity at the famous “Wānaka Tree”. The trail then passes Edgewater and Rippon Vineyard – where a cellar door and wine tastings are available – and on to Waterfall Creek with views of Ruby Island.
Distance: 2.5km Completion Time: 1 hour
Outlet Track
This is a local favourite as it is an easy walk suitable for all ages and abilities. It begins from Wanaka town centre and takes you around picturesque Lake Wanaka to the outlet to the Clutha River and on to Albert Town. This track can also be explored by bike.
Distance: 3 km one way. Completion Time: 1 hour one way.
Mount Iron Track
This very popular, close-to-Wanaka-town loop walk suits all ages and abilities and offers great views of Lake Hawea from the summit.
Distance: 4.5 km. Completion Time: 1.5 hours.
Diamond Lake and Rocky Mountain Tracks
These two excellent walks in the Diamond Lake Conservation Area give wonderful views of the surrounding alps and Lake Wanaka.
Distance: 2km - 7 km depending on the trail. Completion Time: 45 minutes - 3 hours depending on the trail.
Your accommodation: The Moorings Wanaka
The Moorings Apartments are just 5 minutes’ from Wanaka’s town centre and offer lakeside accommodation with open views of the mountains and stunning Lake Wanaka. It's an easy walk to the bustling main street of Wanaka or take a stroll around the lake.
Cardrona Full Day Lift, 2 Group Lessons and Rental Package
If you have skied or snowboarded for more than one day, can 'stop and change direction' and enjoy the support of lessons or want to improve as quickly as possible then this is the package is for you. You'll have access to the entire mountain with an all mountain lift pass, rental equipment included and the benefit of 2 x two hour group lessons. This package is coordinated to build a solid foundation so that you can make progress quickly. And rest assured you'll soon remember the movements even if you only ever skied once, many years ago.
Cardrona Hotel Dinner
If you feel like spoiling yourself and learning about the area's history we recommend taking yourself out for lunch or dinner at The Cardrona Hotel, one of New Zealand's oldest and most iconic hotels which sits between Queenstown and Wanaka on the stunning Crown Range Road. Nestled in a beautiful mountain valley, the town of Cardrona boasts a rich and vibrant history: settled in the 1860s as hundreds of hopeful prospectors flooded into the valley chasing gold, the Cardrona Hotel was one of four hotels quickly established to offer accommodation, food, livery services and a coaching-stop for miners and travellers. With the short-lived gold mining boom beginning to wind down in the late 1800s, the area quietened down, with the Cardrona Hotel eventually becoming the sole remaining hotel in the valley. In more recent times the township of Cardrona has seen a resurgence in visitors, people clamouring to get a taste of old the old town feel, stopping in for a pint or delicious meal and a few fantastic photo opportunities in the quaint village that harkens back to a time of hope, gold and good fortune.
Your accommodation: The Moorings Wanaka
The Moorings Apartments are just 5 minutes’ from Wanaka’s town centre and offer lakeside accommodation with open views of the mountains and stunning Lake Wanaka. It's an easy walk to the bustling main street of Wanaka or take a stroll around the lake.
Explore the winter wonderland of Wanaka
Explore what else Wanaka has to offer, including a range of cafes, bars, and restaurants to enjoy, miles of scenic walking and biking tracks, vineyards and distilleries to visit, and if you are looking for something indoors experience Puzzling World, Transport and Toy Museum or the Base Indoor Climbing Wall. If you still want to be skiing and your legs can handle it then book heli-skiing as it's one of the most breathtaking places to do it in the world.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITY - Puzzling World Great Maze and Illusion Rooms
Puzzling World is a world unique attraction specialising in puzzling eccentricity. For over 35 years this remarkable business has entertained and amazed visitors of all ages. Offering the world's first "modern-styled" Great Maze, incredible Illusion Rooms, a Puzzle Centre/Cafe and eccentric architecture and oddities. Each remarkable illusion room is an illusion in its own right. On entering you pass through the Hologram Hall. As there is nothing quite like this in the world we can only assure you that you will find the collection of amazing 3-D holograms fascinating! Carry on into the Ames Forced Perspective Room. The technique of this illusion was used in The Lord of the Rings film to create tall people and little people. Move on into the Hall of Following Faces illusion room where 168 giant models of famous faces seem to turn and follow you around the room. This illusion room offers visitors a world unique encounter of being followed left and right, up and down by some very illustrious company. The newest room, the Sculptillusion Room is themed around an illusionary sculpture garden, the gallery invites visitors to wander around the various larger-than-life exhibits that showcase visual trickery at its best. Featuring over 20 large sculptures, artworks and displays the building itself offers illusionary aspects within its design. From Living Walls, wave ceilings, stone carpet and hanging waterfalls the visitor is met with stunning creations from some of NZ's finest artists. All of this is located in the heart of the breathtaking Southern Lakes region of the South Island of New Zealand, set amongst 7 acres of rolling lawns, trees and gardens.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITY - Wanaka Wine Tours Classic Wine Tour
The Classic Full Day Wine Tour is a small group tour (maximum 8) that explores the scenery, history, food and wines of Central Otago. Enjoy an unhurried amble through six of the region's finest wineries, pausing only to admire the ever-present views. Savour the unique atmosphere of the arts, crafts and history of Old Cromwell Town and share the unforgettable indulgence of a gourmet platter lunch.
Your accommodation: The Moorings Wanaka
The Moorings Apartments are just 5 minutes’ from Wanaka’s town centre and offer lakeside accommodation with open views of the mountains and stunning Lake Wanaka. It's an easy walk to the bustling main street of Wanaka or take a stroll around the lake.
Cardrona Ski Field Day Lift Pass and Rental Package
Cardrona is New Zealand's fun and family-friendly ski resort with the most reliable snow conditions in the region. Its high elevation and southerly aspect mean dry natural snow is plentiful, which is further enhanced by snowmaking facilities. Cardrona is the perfect place for beginners and intermediates, with NZ's only combined gondola chairlift, easy-to-use surface lifts, specialised beginner packages and plenty of wide open trails spread over three basins. If you're up for a challenge, you'll find it in Arcadia, with secret powder stashes, chutes and cliff drops. Cardrona is home to the NZ Park & Pipe Team & offers the most extensive terrain park facilities in the Southern Hemisphere with four terrain parks, two half pipes and a gravity-cross course. Boasting eight distinctly different cafes, fully licensed kids' centres, on-mountain accommodation, retail; ski & snowboard lessons; and a fully equipped rental department, Cardrona is pure gold.
Cinema Paradiso - Suggested Activity
Feel like a relaxing night, take yourself to the movies, Cinema Paradiso is not your average cinema. A classic movie theatre with comfy old sofas, an old Morris Minor car, and a cafe & bar serving delicious meals before, during, or after the movie. A great option for days when the weather is not so great up the ski field, especially for families! Paradiso provides a novel experience - they even have a half-time intermission where you can get homemade ice cream, a hot chocolate, or a freshly baked cookie! Tickets can be purchased at your own expense at the cinema prior to the session or up to a few days before the movie you wish to see. The seating is unallocated, so if you arrive early you get the pick of the couches, chairs, and cinema seating.
Your accommodation: The Moorings Wanaka
The Moorings Apartments are just 5 minutes’ from Wanaka’s town centre and offer lakeside accommodation with open views of the mountains and stunning Lake Wanaka. It's an easy walk to the bustling main street of Wanaka or take a stroll around the lake.
Another Free Day to Experience Wanaka
Spend the day in town shopping or eating at one of the outstanding cafes or restaurants, pick either a cruise, or adventure activity, or set your taste buds alight with a winery tour. Make sure you take some time to go see our famous Wanaka tree.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITY - Cruise and Island Nature Walk with Eco Wanaka
Lying close to the centre of Lake Wanaka is Mou Waho Island Nature Reserve. A unique glacial remnant of the last ice age, the island is also the historic site of early shipbuilding and used to be a stopping place for the steamers and log rafts that once plied the lake. Accessible from Wanaka by a 35-minute boat cruise, the landing is on the eastern side of the island where the remnants of the early settlement remain; a stone wharf and a hut. A well-formed track leads from the landing and climbs steadily through native bush to near the top of Tyrwhitt Peak. Just before the top, we see Arethusa Pool, a small lake on the island with small islands in it - very intriguing! From the top, we have a sweeping 360-degree view of Lake Wanaka, its surrounding mountains and valleys, and below Arethusa Pool. The perfect spot to stop for tea or coffee. Going back down the track gives us more time to take in our surroundings, listening to and watching the lively bird-life, and just enjoying this unique wildlife reserve. You will feel well rewarded as you re-join the boat for the cruise back to Wanaka. Total cruise time is 1.5 hours. The trip runs subject to weather and lake conditions. Depending on the planting season, you can help The Reforestation of Mou Waho by planting a tree.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITY - Wild Hills 4WD Safari with Ridgeline Adventures
Journey through West Wanaka High Country Station on this spectacular 4WD adventure with Ridgeline Adventures. With jaw-dropping mountain top scenery for days, gain an in-depth insight into the fascinating local history, farming life and predator control conservation projects. Go behind the scenes of a genuine New Zealand High Country Farm, West Wanaka Station and get up close to farm animals including Red Deer, Cattle and Sheep. On this tour, you'll have the opportunity to give back by helping the Ridgeline Adventure's Predator control conservation project and take an optional easy alpine meadow and lakeside forest walks (20 minutes each). Enjoy some freshly brewed coffee and famous fruit cake at their Alpine cafe, before the chance to take a dip in the crystal clear lake and river. This is a great adventure the whole family will enjoy.
Your accommodation: The Moorings Wanaka
The Moorings Apartments are just 5 minutes’ from Wanaka’s town centre and offer lakeside accommodation with open views of the mountains and stunning Lake Wanaka. It's an easy walk to the bustling main street of Wanaka or take a stroll around the lake.
Wanaka to Queenstown
Leaving Wanaka you head over New Zealand's highest sealed road, Crown Range Road before dropping into Queenstown.
Your final morning in Queenstown before driving to the airport and catching your next flight
Depending on when your flight departs you might have time for one last Queenstown adventure before dropping your car off at the airport and catching your flight.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITY - Queenstown Skyline Gondola Ride
Hop aboard the Skyline Gondola - the steepest cable car lift in the Southern Hemisphere! From which you can take in the awe-inspiring views of this spectacular landscape. Sit back and relax as you enjoy panoramic views of The Remarkables, Walter Peak, Cecil Peak, Coronet Peak and the magnificent Lake Wakatipu.
Driving distance and time (approximate) for this driving leg is: 65 kms / 41 miles : 1.1 hours