Above & beyond

Discover magic on the shores of Walter Peak High Country Farm, and take in all its charming architecture, stunning scenery, and delicious food

HAVE YOU WANTED to find the taste of Queenstown? Just beyond the shores of Lake Wakatipu is Queenstown’s dining secret weapon, Walter Peak High Country Farm. Standing on the Steamer Wharf, you may have seen it on a clear night. The faint glowing light in the distance calls you over to taste its wonders.

Though a short 30-minute steamboat journey away, Walter Peak is an other-worldly experience. Located in one of the region’s few remaining historical buildings, the restaurant spills luxuriously throughout a restored colonial property named ‘The Colonel’s Homestead’. The surrounding land is part of an operating High Country Farm, which guests have the chance to explore.

The farm feeds the restaurant both literally and figuratively. Veggies and herbs are frequently harvested and used in the menu’s seasonal dishes. However, it’s the soul of the farm that saturates the restaurant. The dishes focus on local produce and a simple way of cooking, leaving unmistakable flavours.

After dining, guests are tempted to take a stroll in the surrounding gardens. With hardworking resident landscapers tending to a floral display, the garden on the shore of Lake Wakatipu is a setting almost too good to be true.

Walk a little beyond the garden, and guests find the surrounding farmland, home to a selection of farm animals, some special highland cattle, and a pack of talented sheep-herding dogs, trained on-site by a resident rural-ops manager, whose family has trained the Walter Peak dogs for generations.

If the first mouthful at dinner doesn’t confirm you’re onto something special here, the unrelenting magic of Walter Peak will remind you. It’s only through squinting into the horizon that whispers you’re still within Queenstown’s reach.