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Te Ariki Nui: A luxury lodge in the remote wilderness of New Zealand’s Wanaka

<p><strong><em>Justine Tyerman comes across a 'talking landscape' on the outskirts of Wanaka in the South Island of New Zealand. </em></strong></p> <p>I’ve made the pilgrimage to Wanaka hundreds of times since the days of my youth and we’ve always stayed within sight of the lake.</p> <p>The panorama of Lake Wanaka is without doubt magnificent but it’s a busy, bossy view which demands to be looked at all the time – jet boats, para-gliders, water skiers, kayakers, rowers and swimmers. The lake is seldom quiet and even when it is, it exerts a magnetic force that compels one to watch it. Hours can be lost just gazing at its changing moods from satin smooth to grey and stormy.</p> <p>But on this occasion, we needed a quiet hideaway to prepare for a family wedding, a place far enough away from the lake and the township to ensure privacy and deter well-meaning friends from ‘just popping in’. </p> <p>On the outskirts of town, we found Te Ariki Nui, an idyllic, peaceful rural retreat surrounded by the wild and rugged Central Otago landscape I’ve loved since my childhood days. Mountain ranges gouged by ancient glaciers, tussocks flattened by the wind and the snow, sweet-smelling pastel-hued lupins growing wild along the roadsides, sun-ripened sweet apricots and tart green gooseberries, lizards basking on the warm schist rocks, the shimmering dry heat of the Central Otago sun,  pink sunrises and golden sunsets, the long dark shadows cast by the late afternoon sun . . .</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-14499 no-display appear lazyloaded" src="https://travelmemo-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Te-ariki-nui-wanaka-landscape.jpg" alt="Te Ariki Nui Wanaka New Zealand" width="500" height="NaN" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Te Ariki Nui sits light and low on the landscape, recessed into a shallow gully.</em></p> <p>We were only 10 minutes from Wanaka but Te Ariki Nui felt like a luxury lodge in a remote wilderness. Apart from invited guests, we saw no other human beings. Our only neighbours were the sociable alpacas in the paddock next door and a large family of bobtail rabbits. </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-14502 no-display appear lazyloaded" src="https://travelmemo-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/wanaka-alpacas.jpg" alt="Alpacas in Wanaka New Zealand" width="500" height="NaN" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>The alpacas feeling the chill after a mid-summer snow storm.</em></p> <p>Te Ariki Nui exceeded all our expectations. Designed by award-winning architect Paul Clarke and runner-up in the 2005 New Zealand Home &amp; Entertaining Home of the Year Award,it is the Wanaka home of New Zealand fashion icon Robyn Hall.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-14498 no-display appear lazyloaded" src="https://travelmemo-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Te-ariki-nui-wanaka-hollow.jpg" alt="Te Ariki Nui Wanaka New Zealand, photo by Simon Darby" width="500" height="NaN" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Te Ariki Nui is nestled in a hollow surrounded by 4 hectares of land on the outskirts of Wanaka.</em><br /><em> Image credit: <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a rel="noopener" href="http://www.wanakaphotography.co.nz/" target="_blank">Simon Darby Photography</a></strong></span></em></p> <p>The long, low concrete, glass and timber house sits quietly in its surroundings, allowing the landscape to take centre stage.</p> <p>I loved the simple, clean lines of the house – the dull sheen of the natural polished concrete floors, the warm glow of the tall beech doors and cabinetry against a predominantly white palette, the floor-to-ceiling glass walls, and the minimal adornment.</p> <p>“The landscape does the talking,” as Hall says.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-14489 no-display lazyloaded appear" src="https://travelmemo-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/te-ariki-nui-interior.jpg" alt="Te Ariki Nui Wanaka New Zealand" width="500" height="NaN" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>The interior has minimal adornment allowing “the landscape to do the talking”, as the owner says.</em></p> <p>Four bedrooms and three bathrooms including a lovely detached, self-contained studio provided ample private space for eight of us while the large open-plan kitchen, dining and living area was perfect for family dinners and socialising.</p> <p>The kitchen was equipped with every imaginable high-end appliance and utensil along with a generous array of pantry essentials.</p> <p>The massive floor-to-ceiling glass walls on both sides of the house slid aside to unite inside and outside living areas. Double-glazing, underfloor heating and a raised gas fireplace in the lounge would make Te Ariki Nui super-cosy in winter.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-14491 no-display lazyloaded appear" src="https://travelmemo-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/te-ariki-nui-living-area.jpg" alt="Te Ariki Nui Wanaka New Zealand" width="500" height="NaN" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>The massive floor-to-ceiling glass walls allow the ultimate in inside-outside living. Image credit:  Simon Darby Photography</em></p> <p>The luxurious master bedroom at the far end of the house had an Agape tear-shaped bath by the window where you could bathe while communing with nature.</p> <p><em style="text-align: center;"> </em><img style="text-align: center;" class="size-full wp-image-14487 no-display appear lazyloaded" src="https://travelmemo-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/te-ariki-nui-bathroom.jpg" alt="Te Ariki Nui Wanaka New Zealand" width="500" height="NaN" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>The Agape tear-shaped bath by the floor-to-ceiling windows in the master bedroom. Image credit: Simon Darby Photography</em></p> <p>The bathrooms in the main part of the house featured glass-walled showers and unencumbered views of the landscape through full-height windows.</p> <p>An impressive gabion wall made with stones smoothed by the nearby Cardrona River provided a visual shield between the entrance pathway and the house. Rectangular steel inserts in the wall allowed light to filter into the hall and master bedroom without sacrificing privacy. </p> <p>A Jacuzzi in a sheltered courtyard offered hydro-therapy to soothe the nerves. It was quite surreal to soak in the pool surrounded by mid-summer snow on the peaks and ranges, the aftermath of an unseasonal ‘weather bomb’.</p> <p>Nearby, a table and chairs with a large shady umbrella was an ideal spot for alfresco dining.</p> <p>I liked to sit on the swing suspended from the terrace roof at the front of the house and watch the antics of the alpacas in the paddock next door. Hand-feeding the quizzical creatures provided a welcome distraction from wedding preparations.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-14503 no-display appear lazyloaded" src="https://travelmemo-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/wanaka-new-zealand-alpaca.jpg" alt="Alpacas in Wanaka New Zealand" width="500" height="NaN" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Is it feeding time?</em></p> <p>I also loved exploring the stunning collection of sculpture Hall, an enthusiastic supporter of New Zealand art, had scattered around her 4-hectare property. Large sculptures were cleverly placed outside to catch the eye while smaller pieces quietly adorned the interior but did not challenge the dominant feature, the landscape . . . art framed by the windows.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-14484 no-display appear lazyloaded" src="https://travelmemo-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sculpture-axeman-hannah-kidd.jpg" alt="Axeman Sculpture by Hannah Kidd" width="500" height="NaN" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>The axeman in the orchard at Te Ariki Nui never quite managed to fell the tree. The sculpture is by New Zealander Hannah Kidd</em></p> <p>To the right of the house, Hall has planted an impressive orchard of fruit and nut trees including hazelnuts, plums, peaches, pears, nectarines, redcurrants, cherries, apricots and gooseberries. The trees have to struggle to survive so Central Otago fruit has an intensity of flavour like no other region.</p> <p>And beyond the artworks, orchard and alpacas, a spectacular 360-degree necklace of majestic mountains - Black Peak, the Buchanan Mountains, Mt Maude, Mt Iron, Mt Barker, the Cardrona Mt Pisa Ranges - encircled the house.</p> <p>We seldom ventured into town, which was hectic with mid-summer madness, but spent our time rebonding as a family after too long apart, entertaining guests who had travelled from afar and buzzing to and from the lakeside venue with checklists of things to be done for the marquee wedding. It was like constructing a small village in a bare paddock from scratch, bringing all the infrastructure onsite.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-14504 no-display appear lazyloaded" src="https://travelmemo-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/wanaka-wedding-venue.jpg" alt="The Olive Grove wedding venue Lake Wanaka" width="500" height="NaN" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>The Olive Grove wedding venue overlooking Lake Wanaka</em></p> <p>That’s when our friends at JUCY Rentals came to the party, literally. The vehicle rental agency had offered us a generous bulk deal so JUCYs were out in force, ferrying people and equipment to the venue. Our eight-seater JUCY wagon was invaluable as a people, drinks and flowers-mover.</p> <p>And at the end of a busy day, soaking in the spa pool under the stars at Te Ariki Nui, was a magical way to unwind. Lounging amid the bubbles with a glass of bubbles was sheer bliss.</p> <p>Te Ariki Nui certainly lived up to its name – translated from the Maori language, it means “Above all others”.</p> <p>FACTBOX</p> <p>*Te Ariki Nui is an ideal base for pre- and post-wedding events and holidays at any time of the year. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a rel="noopener" href="http://www.tearikinui.nz/" target="_blank">www.tearikinui.nz/</a></strong></span></p> <p>*Pick up a JUCY Rental at Queenstown Airport and drive to Wanaka - 60 minutes over the Crown Range or 90 minutes via the Kawarau Gorge, both magnificent scenic experiences. The convenience of being able to pick up a vehicle at Queenstown Airport and drop it off in Christchurch, Wellington or Auckland makes JUCY a super-convenient choice for travellers arriving from overseas. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a rel="noopener" href="http://www.jucy.co.nz/" target="_blank">www.jucy.co.nz</a></strong></span></p> <p>* Air New Zealand flies daily to Queenstown from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch with connections available across the domestic network. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a rel="noopener" href="http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/" target="_blank">www.airnewzealand.co.nz</a></strong></span></p> <p><em>Written by Justine Tyerman. Republished with the permission of <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a rel="noopener" href="http://travelmemo.com/" target="_blank">Travelmemo.com</a></strong></span></em></p>

Domestic Travel

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This is the best place to ski in New Zealand

<p><em>Justine Tyerman, travel writer from New Zealand, was present at the birth of Cardona and eagerly awaits the latest addition…</em>  </p> <p>Riding to the top of a ski resort in a bubble is about to become a reality in New Zealand.</p> <p>My favourite ski area, Cardrona Alpine Resort near Wanaka, is due to open its new $10 million Doppelmayr ‘chondola’, a lift combining eight-person gondola cabins or ‘bubbles’ and six-seater chairs on June 10. The new McDougall’s Express Chondola is the first cabin-style lift on a ski area in New Zealand, replacing the existing McDougall’s Quad chairlift.</p> <p>The high-speed Chondola will increase the lift capacity by 150 percent, with an hourly uplift of 2,550 skiers, snowboarders and sightseers.</p> <p>The new lift is 100m closer to the base facilities, making it faster and easier to get up the mountain. No walking uphill to the lift queue in skiboots with skis on your shoulder.</p> <p>It will be ideal for beginners, allowing first-time skiers and snowboarders the ability to walk on and off a gondola cabin and ride to the top of the mountain on their first day.</p> <p>From the top of McDougall’s they can access the mellow Skyline trail or New Zealand’s longest beginner trail, A Real Journey, over to Captain's Basin.</p> <p>Sightseers can also travel to the top of the mountain in the warmth and comfort of a gondola cabin to view the panorama that still takes my breath away, even after 36 years – row-upon-row of the Southern Alps, the entire Wakatipu Basin and little Arrowtown nestled in the valley below.</p> <p>We’ve skied at Cardrona since its very first season in 1980 and have witnessed the mountain develop into a world-class resort.</p> <p>Waiting out a blizzard last year, I read the entire fascinating history of the resort displayed on the wall of the Captain’s café.</p> <p>Tall, rangy Cardrona pioneer and founder John Lee is pictured there building his non-consented ‘high-quality farm road’ back in the 1970s. The Mt Pisa farmer had a bold vision to one day ‘farm snow’ so he designed the road with a gradual gradient so that busses and cars could manage it with ease. The road today is a testament to John’s methodical planning many decades ago – gentle, wide and well-barriered, I always feel safe on that road.  </p> <p>1980 was the first official ski season at Cardrona but there was so much snow, the new field was open for only 16 days. The following year, they operated for six weeks and purchased a snow groomer.</p> <p>The double lift was installed in 1983 followed by McDougall’s lift and a 200-seat café in 1985.</p> <p>In hindsight, it seems bizarre but Cardrona actually banned snowboarding in the late 1980s, a ban that was only lifted in 1989 when one of the managers got hooked on what was then considered a renegade sport after he was persuaded to take a lesson.</p> <p>The famous blue clock tower was added in 1993-5 along with the Mezz Café, expanded kids’ facilities, apartments and a medical centre.</p> <p>In the summer of 1999-2000, mountain biking, hiking and rock climbing at Arcadia began, heralding a new era of operations at Cardrona outside the winter months.</p> <p>An express quad chair replaced the Captain’s Quad in 2008 and the old Captain’s lift was installed as the Valley View lift in 2010.</p> <p>Real Journeys bought Cardrona Alpine Resort in 2013, and the intermediate jumpline opened in 2014, bringing the resort’s freestyle collection to four terrain parks, two half pipes and a big air jump.</p> <p>The summer of 2015-2016 was Cardrona’s first full summer of operations including mountain biking, hiking, stargazing and the Southern Hemisphere’s first mountain carts.</p> <p>And on June 10, 2017, the Chondola opens, heralding a whole new chapter in the mountain’s development.</p> <p>While gorging on history, I also learned a number of other fascinating facts including that Captain’s is named after an old rodeo horse who was put out to pasture on Cardrona during the 1970s. He was a nightmare to wrangle, so much so that some of the men wanted to shoot him. But John Lee identified with Captain’s tenacious spirit that matched his own, naming one of the ski field’s basins and lifts after the spirited horse.</p> <p>Ironically, John was not a skier, but his wife Mary was a passionate advocate of the sport and can claim many of Cardrona’s first descents.</p> <p>After a massive snow dump late in the season last year, we had one of our best ever day’s skiing on a pristine, cloudless, windless day. Being mid-week and outside the school or university holidays, there were few other skiers so we had the mountain to ourselves. My brand new Dynastars, on loan from my old friend Kazu at Outside Sports in Wanaka, were humming, and my boots were supremely comfortable after Paul, the Scottish boot doctor at the shop, gave them a stretch to accommodate my burgeoning bunions.</p> <p>We skied every possible on-piste and off-piste run and then treated ourselves to a leisurely lunchbreak and a chilled cider in the sun on the balcony at Captains Café. Even after he lifts officially closed, we persuaded the liftie to let us back on for one last run as the sun began to slide towards the snowy horizon, painting the mountains pink.</p> <p>On the way back to Wanaka, we stopped off at the historic Cardrona Hotel and had a glass of hot mulled wine and chips beside the roaring outside fire, as we have done after every day’s skiing for 36 years. The day was pure magic, the stuff of legends. I can’t wait to do it all again this year . . . and ride the bubble.</p> <p>Have you ever been skiing in New Zealand?</p> <p><em>* Justine skied courtesy of Cardrona Alpine Resort <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.cardrona.com/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>www.cardrona.com</strong></span>/</a> and Outside Sports <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a rel="noopener" href="http://www.outsidesports.co.nz/" target="_blank">www.outsidesports.co.nz/</a></strong></span> Outside Sports has shops in Queenstown, Wanaka and Te Anau. You can pick up your sporting gear at one shop and drop it off at another.</em></p> <p><em>Justine travelled to Wanaka in a <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.jucy.co.nz/our-vehicles/motor-homes/casa-plus/%20%20%20" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">JUCY Casa Plus motorhome</span></strong></a>, warm and cosy even in the snow! </em></p>

Domestic Travel

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The story behind that Wanaka Tree

<p>Say #thatwanakatree to a photographer and listen for the sigh and laugh.</p> <p>Wanaka's willow with wet feet is perhaps New Zealand's most photographed tree.</p> <p>About five years ago, Wanaka photographers and writers began pumping images of it to social media sites as bit of a joke.</p> <p>Two years ago, Lake Wanaka Tourism put the tree on its photo trail and last year a Wanaka Instameet that beamed tree images to millions of people.</p> <p>More often than not, the tree appears on Google in splendid isolation. But now that is the joke.</p> <p>Every day, tree-botherers click away in a gentle curve in Roys Bay opposite the showgrounds. Some days the tree faces a hundred-strong firing squad.</p> <p>Former Central Otago photographer Tony Bridge says friends gave him "bollocks" for his tree article in this month's issue of <em>F11</em> magazine because he had resisted joining the "heavily-armed columns of photographers".</p> <p>When he found a tree "light, tender and diaphanous", his cynicism melted and his ego shredded.</p> <p>Just what it is about that tree?</p> <p>"I don't know, to be honest," Bridge said by phone from Hokianga on Friday.</p> <p>"To be honest, I think it's got to be ego. The "I can do better than everyone else". Everyone takes a photo and shares it," he said.</p> <p><img width="498" height="245" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/24729/shutterstock_347775725_498x245.jpg" alt="wanaka tree (3)"/></p> <p>The tree appals and fascinates in equal measure but on the whole, Wanaka folk have been good-natured about something that is possibly better click-bait than Richie McCaw.</p> <p>But when Wanaka-based US travel blogger Liz Carlson wrote about camera-wielding crowds this month, followers criticised her use of a social media tag considered offensive to visitors from Asia.</p> <p>Carlson has apologised and taken down the offending post but has declined to discuss it with<em> The Wanaka Mirror</em>.</p> <p>Bridge describes the clamour was "a form of appropriation . . . a photo as consumerist pastime".</p> <p>"It's not just Asians. It is all sorts of tourists. It is photo tourism, blogging, the raising of the selfie stick. I find it quite hilarious. And of course, cell phones and smart phones are so good, as good as a camera. I think the key thing is Facebook and social media have changed things.  . . . Once we took pictures for our own purposes and perhaps for an exhibition. We printed them and maybe put them in an album. But now everyone shares it on Facebook," Bridge said.</p> <p>Christchurch photographer Dennis Radermacher took a tree photo on a misty June day that won the 2014 New Zealand Geographic photograph of the year.</p> <p>"I think everyone with a camera has a photo of that," Radermacher laughed, when contacted on Friday.</p> <p>Radermacher also had an epiphany at the tree when confronted by fog rather than a hoped-for sunrise.</p> <p>"I was quite disappointed when I was there because it was not what I had in mind."</p> <p>He was not the only person there.</p> <p>"There were four or five. It wasn't too bad. You have to be really really lucky to get that, these days . . . My problem with the tree is we [landscape photographers] suffer from the loner in the wood syndrome. Any more than two people is a crowd," he said.</p> <p>Why does he like the tree?</p> <p><img width="498" height="245" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/24725/shutterstock_240311278_498x245.jpg" alt="wanaka tree"/></p> <p>"It's the curvature [of the branches]. And it's really easy to reach. You just walk over from Wanaka. And because it is in Wanaka. But I do know there are a few more trees like it, at Glenorchy, that are similar subjects. And it seems isolated, just exactly where you need to be . . .If it was standing in a lake on the top of a mountain and you had to walk eight hours uphill to get to it, I could guarantee it wouldn't be that popular," Radermacher said.</p> <p>​The photograph was the boost in confidence Radermacher needed to become a full time professional photographer and set up his Lightforge website and From Zero to Hero workshops last year.</p> <p>"I sold one or two prints. It didn't do much financially for me. But if I am known for anything, I am known for that photo. I run landscape photography courses and I use it as a model," Radermacher said.</p> <p>Wanaka ​Camera Club president Heather Macleod has photographed the tree just twice, the last time about two years ago.</p> <p>While some members felt the tree was "almost a joke", others had pushed it on websites and social media.</p> <p>"Let's face it. It is such a pretty photogenic tree. It has got an appealing curve to it. But I have heard of wedding parties with the brides sitting in it and breaking branches, which is not appreciated," she said.</p> <p><img width="498" height="245" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/24726/shutterstock_435483688_498x245.jpg" alt="wanaka tree (1)"/></p> <p>The tree started life as a fence post at least 77 years ago.</p> <p>Wanaka artist and writer Gwenda Rowlands, 85, is a keeper of local history and remembers the fence line from 1939, when she first visited it in a little dinghy her father built for her and her older brother.</p> <p>She has watched it evolve from a "hacked off branch from nearby willows" to a symbol of determination.</p> <p>"It was 1939 I remember it growing there and that is not yesterday. So it has been growing slowly all that time . . . It was just big enough to lift the wire up with a bit of tension on it. I can remember a gap where the tree is now, on the beach, and the sheep could just wander off into the town shopping if they wanted."</p> <p>Rowlands agrees the tree "seems to be getting a bit of an overload" but has not let that overwhelm her enjoyment of the site's natural history.</p> <p>Just last week she enjoyed observing a young Asian couple posing for wedding photographs with the tree.</p> <p>"They looked as if their marriage was going to work, that they would be happy ever after, and that is what you want for them."</p> <p>Rowlands suggests Otago artist Brian Halliday (1936-1974) made one of the earliest images of the tree while it was still a post.</p> <p>​A copy of Halliday's painting graces the cover of <em>Wanaka and Surrounding Districts: A Sequel to Wanaka Story</em>, by Irvine Roxburgh (1990).</p> <p>Rowlands likes to think the tree could the very last, very tiny strainer shown in Halliday's painting but accepts the artwork is representative.</p> <p>So what does she make of the famous tree?</p> <p>"It shows anything that is alive has a determination to live," she said.</p> <p>Have you ever viewed the famous Wanaka Tree? Tell us about it in the comments.</p> <p><em>Written by Marjorie Cook. First appeared on <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong>Stuff.co.nz</strong></a></span>.</em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/travel/domestic-travel/2016/05/why-you-need-to-visit-the-spectacular-otago-central-rail-trail/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Why you need to visit New Zealand’s spectacular Otago Central Rail Trail</span></em></strong></a></p> <p><a href="/travel/cruising/2016/06/cruise-in-new-zealand-time-lapse-video/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>What’s it like to cruise around New Zealand?</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/travel/domestic-travel/2016/06/10-lesser-known-new-zealand-holiday-spots/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">10 lesser-known New Zealand holiday spots</span></em></strong></a></p>

Domestic Travel

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"Return of the Catalina'' film to have southern premiere in Wanaka

<p>Warbirds Over Wanaka is hosting the South Island premiere of the film Return of the Catalina, which tells the story of&nbsp; top secret long-distance flights to England after the fall of Singapore in World War II.</p><p>Warbirds Over Wanaka general manager Ed Taylor says the November 4 screening at Cinema Paradiso brings attention to the unsung war heroes who reconnected Australia and New Zealand to their northern allies.</p><p>The screening is a fundraiser for the NZ Catalina Preservation Society, which looks after New Zealabnd's only airworthy flying boat. It has been a crowd favourite at Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshows.</p><p>"The Catalina is returning to the airshow in 2016 after a major refurbishment so will be a special sight, especially seeing it landing on the lake," Taylor said.</p><p>The Catalina crews provided a vital lifeline for the allied war effort, carrying secret cargo and VIPS across enemy territory in unarmed flying boats for up to 32 hours.</p><p>They were in the air for so long they were named Double Sunrise Flights.</p><p>Daniel Bunker's feature length documentary follows a band of aviators as they restore and fly a 70-year-old Catalina flying boat from Spain to Australia in order to recognise the unacknowledged war heroes.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Related links:</strong></p><p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/technology/2015/10/iphone-photo-tips/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>8 iPhone photo tips you’ll want to know about</strong></em></span></a></p><p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/technology/2015/10/social-media-health-benefits-study/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Social media good for older people’s health</strong></em></span></a></p><p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/technology/2015/10/people-failed-at-technology/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>8 people who utterly failed at technology</strong></em></span></a></p>

Movies

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"Return of the Catalina'' film to have southern premiere in Wanaka

<p>Warbirds Over Wanaka is hosting the South Island premiere of the film Return of the Catalina, which tells the story of&nbsp; top secret long-distance flights to England after the fall of Singapore in World War II.</p><p>Warbirds Over Wanaka general manager Ed Taylor says the November 4 screening at Cinema Paradiso brings attention to the unsung war heroes who reconnected Australia and New Zealand to their northern allies.</p><p>The screening is a fundraiser for the NZ Catalina Preservation Society, which looks after New Zealabnd's only airworthy flying boat. It has been a crowd favourite at Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshows.</p><p>"The Catalina is returning to the airshow in 2016 after a major refurbishment so will be a special sight, especially seeing it landing on the lake," Taylor said.</p><p>The Catalina crews provided a vital lifeline for the allied war effort, carrying secret cargo and VIPS across enemy territory in unarmed flying boats for up to 32 hours.</p><p>They were in the air for so long they were named Double Sunrise Flights.</p><p>Daniel Bunker's feature length documentary follows a band of aviators as they restore and fly a 70-year-old Catalina flying boat from Spain to Australia in order to recognise the unacknowledged war heroes.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Related links:</strong></p><p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/technology/2015/10/iphone-photo-tips/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>8 iPhone photo tips you’ll want to know about</strong></em></span></a></p><p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/technology/2015/10/social-media-health-benefits-study/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Social media good for older people’s health</strong></em></span></a></p><p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/technology/2015/10/people-failed-at-technology/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>8 people who utterly failed at technology</strong></em></span></a></p>

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