Alone Together at Secluded Minaret Station

“In an isolated Wanaka valley, family-run Minaret Station espouses the beauty of solitude,” Mariela de Jesús writes in a travel piece for Vogue Philippines. “The alpine lodge is not accessible by any other way but helicopter.”

“Flying into the valley where the lodge is nestled, our pilot takes us close to a neighbouring waterfall, before carefully setting us all down at one of the few helicopter pads. Our luggage is kindly unloaded for us, and then he is off again; only [my girlhood friend] Nat, myself, and three of the lodge’s waiting staff, alone together,” de Jesús writes.

“For those whose horizons stop as soon as the neighbours’ nearby fence, or the shop fronts on crowded city streets, to look upon the distant valley walls is a welcome mental respite. It is a wonder that brings guests back once, twice, sometimes annually to look upon.”

Minaret Station is part of The Alpine Group, which is owned and operated by the Wallis family.

Original article by Mariela de Jesús, Vogue Philippines, July 7, 2023.

Photo by Mariela de Jesús.