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The South Island’s two Wilderness Lodges at Lake Moeraki and Arthur’s Pass are set to reopen for the summer season this October and invite travellers to witness rare rainforest penguins, hand-feed lambs on a working high-country station, and angle for trout.
On the temperate rainforest coast, Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki’s star attraction is the Tawaki, or Fiordland Crested Penguin. The Tawaki is found only in the southwest corner of the South Island, and around ten percent of the roughly 3,000 pairs come ashore along the Lake Moeraki coastline to breed, so guests can watch them into early December.
Visitors walk through a towering rainforest to a wilderness beach, then wait as penguins emerge from the surf at dusk, hop across the sand and make their way into the forest. Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki has guided guests to see Tawaki since 1989 under a special Department of Conservation licence, and remains the only operator permitted to guide at certain sensitive sites. The lodge works year-round to protect the penguin colonies through dog-free coastal patrols, predator control and breeding monitoring.
Positioned between a lake, river and the Tasman Sea, Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki also offers guided rainforest walks, kayaking, and wild brown trout fishing, with one complimentary activity each day.
Guests planning to travel to the West Coast can do so with confidence. Despite recent road closures affecting the region, access to Lake Moeraki remains accessible, with the road fully open over weekends and escorted convoys operating on weekdays. The lodge team is happy to advise guests on the latest travel arrangements at the time of booking.
Located midway between Christchurch and the West Coast, Wilderness Lodge Arthur’s Pass occupies a spectacular 4,000-acre farm and nature reserve beside the glacier-fed Waimakariri River. A high-country sheep station (named Cora Lynn in the 1860s), it produces fine merino wool, Angus calves and prime lamb for the lodge restaurant. Guests can explore the farm with a guide and watch working sheepdogs, hand-feed lambs, and see sheep shearing done the traditional way, while a 30-kilometre trail invites hiking across forest, farm and mountain.
“There’s nothing quite like sitting on a remote beach watching penguins surf out of the ocean and waddle past you into the rainforest,” says Kristine Hingst, general manager at Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki. “It’s the kind of close, unscripted wildlife encounter our guests travel across the world for. Whether it’s the Tawaki at Lake Moeraki or hand-feeding lambs on the farm at Arthur’s Pass, our guides provide access to nature few travellers get to experience.”
Both Wilderness Lodges open for the summer season October 1. For bookings and further information, visit www.wildernesslodge.co.nz.
