Home > The Details >

Planning your visit

Whare Kea Lodge is situated on 70 acres of private farmland, on the western shore of Lake Wanaka. Located on Mt Aspiring Road, the Lodge is 7 kilometers (10 minutes drive), west of the town of Wanaka.

By airplane- Queenstown Airport ( 1 hour drive ) is an international  Airport with direct flights daily from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Australia.

By helicopter-The Whare Kea team can arrange private helicopter charters - arriving/departing via the front lawn of the Lodge. Priced on application

By car-We offer a private driver service; arrangements are easily made and priced on application. If you prefer to self drive, view our map to get driving directions from any location.

• Christchurch to Whare Kea Lodge is 5 hours drive
• Queenstown to Whare Kea Lodge is a 1 hour drive
• Franz Josef to Whare Kea Lodge is a 4 hour drive
• Dunedin to Whare Kea Lodge is a 3.5 hour drive

Lake Wanaka seasons

As with any continental climate (which Wanaka has the good fortune to have) there are four distinct seasons.

• Spring falls between September and December and has the most changeable and wettest months with temperatures between 10-19deg C or 50-60.2 deg F.
• A hot dry summer is between January to March with a range of 16-30deg C or 60.8 - 86 deg F. (and little humidity).
• Autumn is spectacular (the first two weeks of April are unmissable for the changing colours of the leaves) and falls between April and June with warm temperate days and cool nights 10-23deg C or 50 - 73.4 deg F.
• Followed by winter in July till September with a variation of 0 – 14deg C or 32 - 57.2 deg F (though it can fall to sub zero at night).

What to pack when visiting Wanaka

With some of the best outdoor recreational activities to be found in the Southern Hemisphere, if not the world, it goes without saying that relaxed is the way of life. And the clothes that match this philosophy are what you need to pack in the suitcase. Take comfortable casual clothes-  evenings all year round can be cool- layers work best. Remember your walking shoes and jacket.  Summer says sunscreen and a sunhat to protect from the brilliant rays.  And don’t forget the swimsuit.