Altitude with Attitude

Whare Kea Lodge – the “ultimate mountain hut” – featured in the Observer’s dream travel series. The luxury lodge is located at 5,600ft in the South Island’s Buchanan mountain range. Observer: “A mountain hut that mixes altitude with attitude … It is a perfectly Wordsworthian idyll of isolation, if you can ignore the resident chef and the fixer, who can arrange walking trails, skiing and an abiding sense of contentment.” A two-night package costs NZ$7,800 for two, which includes a return helicopter transfer and qualified mountain guide.