Luxurious Isolation

By helicopter to the Southern Alps, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Tricia Welsh discovers Minaret Station, a soft landing in a luxury tent on a sheep and cattle station. “We’re having the ultimate New Zealand high-country experience, at the country’s first luxury tented lodge, which opened in December. It’s deep in the jagged peaks of the Southern Alps above Lake Wanaka and is accessible only by helicopter. This 2,ha sheep, cattle and deer property has been in the Wallis family since 1995. In this rugged terrain, the Wallises use helicopters like the family car. They transfer guests from Queenstown and Wanaka and use choppers for excursions around the property and beyond. The lodge is at an elevation of 914m in classic Lord of the Rings territory. It comprises a mountain kitchen, where guests gather by open fires in comfortable lounges for meals, and four heated and insulated safari tents with en suites. We soak in hot-tubs on starry nights and relax in casual furniture on the wooden deck.”