Two Amazing Adventures in Wanaka: Wildwire Wanaka and the Diamond Lake Rocky Mountain Track

Which is better, Wanaka or Queenstown? Both have blissful lake and mountain settings, skiing and hiking options aplenty and many adrenalin-inducing activities. We loved Wanaka and it would have our vote for the best of the two. It is smaller, has a more laid back feel and those amazing views are everywhere. We also had beautiful weather in Wanaka, the best of our trip in New Zealand so far. Everything looks so much better in the sunshine with glorious blue skies. Here’s two amazing adventures in Wanaka: Wildwire Wanaka and the Diamond Lake Rocky Mountain Track.

TWO AMAZING ADVENTURES IN WANAKA

WILDWIRE WANAKA

Our time in Wanaka began with a day’s waterfall climbing with Wildwire Wanaka. We didn’t really know what to expect and were a little apprehensive at what lay ahead. At 11am we were picked up and headed out of town into spectacular mountain scenery.

After about thirty minutes we arrived at the Twin Falls, the location of our climb. They stretched high above us. We were climbing the one on the left hand side of the picture below. At over 300 metres high it is one of the world’s highest climbable waterfalls.

We were all harnessed up and then got to practice the technique on a small boulder climb. Via ferrata is a system of climbing ladder rungs clipping and unclipping your via ferrata lanyard along the way. We started on the beginner section which was relatively straightforward. After a sandwich for lunch we continued on with the intermediate section. This was much steeper and more challenging. At certain points you had to cross from one side of the waterfall to the other via a plank/tight rope bridge. This was terrifying to me, much more scary than the actual climbing. What made it worse was that the boys attached themselves securely and then dangled from the bridges with massive drops beneath them! At one point you even get to stretch out your hand in a massive waterfall, feeling the full force of it’s power.

We all had the most amazing day, loving the challenge and the amazing views. Flynn, at eight, is the youngest person to climb the intermediate section of the waterfall. This will definitely be one of the highlights of our trip.

Watch our Wildwire YouTube video here.

I had been wanting to do a hike ever since we’d arrived in New Zealand. Unfortunately the weather had been against us preventing us from doing our planned hikes. In New Zealand hiking is known as “tramping”. Today we would be tramping the Diamond Lake Rocky Mountain Track, a moderate to challenging hike. This is a four hour hike with steep climbs on rocky terrain, several rock scrambles, and steep drop offs from narrow tracks. The views were spectacular, with fabulous views of Lake Wanaka and the mountains. We enjoyed a picnic at the top sheltered from the wind as well as lots of photo and snack stops.

On the way back from our hike we stopped at the Rippon Winery for a wine tasting. This has got to be the most desirable location for a winery anywhere in the world and the wine was good too!

We did two fantastic activities in Wanaka but there are plenty more to choose from. We were keen to try paragliding with Wanaka Paragliding. They fly in the same location as the Twin Waterfalls and we would have loved to paraglide in this beautiful location. We were booked in for the morning of the following day but it was too windy. We had ran out of time…so will just have go go back another time.

WHERE WE STAYED

We stayed at the Wanaka Kiwi Holiday Park, located just outside Wanaka, with lovely mountain views. Our original booking had been for just two nights in Wanaka, but we liked it so much and the sun was shinning, that we stayed a third night. The holiday park also has a motel, with apartments sleeping up to six people, perfect for families.

We loved Wanaka and would recommend staying here while on the South Island.