There’s snow place like home
I’m sitting above the clouds, hot chocolate in hand, staring at jagged peaks that cast a lonely figure in the sky, 2040 metres above sea level. These were the days before Covid-19, the freedom of last year seems like a lifetime ago. But it’s taken this pandemic to realise the significance of the moment.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I spent an ungodly amount of my savings, which was intended to buy a house, to go on my first big overseas trip to Switzerland.
I wanted to see mighty mountains, eat cheese, chocolate, and have a go at yodeling. It turns out, the latter wasn’t very successful – with a kind local telling me I sounded like a constipated cow. However, the trip looked up – quite literally. My most vivid memory was eating lunch on the side of a mountain, after a dramatic gondola trip through whiteout.
The Sky Waka is reopening for Queen’s Birthday Weekend, from May 30 until June 1. Prices are $49 an adult and $29 a child for a return trip. A limited cafe service will be available. After Queen’s Birthday, all operations will close until the skifield opens in late June/July.
Chateau Tongariro is offering a flash sale that ends midnight tonight, with rooms going for as little as $70 a night. See chateau.co.nz. Special accommodation packages are also available in nearby Turangi. See lovetaupo.com.
Fast-forward 10 years, and I have the same sense of awe – this time it’s on New Zealand soil.
The journey to New Zealand’s highest cafe starts at the Base Station at Whakapapa ski area, on the slopes of Mt Ruapehu. The Sky Waka opened last year, after a challenging $25 million build. It’s the longest and most-advanced gondola in the country, travelling at 6 metres a second along the 1.8-kilometre wire. It’s easy to forget from the comfort of our cabin, designed by the Italian company behind some Ferrari models, that we’re on the side of a live volcano.
As we break through a layer of floating candy floss, Mt Ruapehu comes into view – it’s snowcovered peak glistening in the afternoon sun.
We then pass frozen waterfalls, ancient lava flows, and deep snow-covered valleys, before a sleek gondola station emerges through yet another layer of clouds.
Up the top is Knoll Ridge Chalet, which is the highest restaurant in New Zealand at more than 2km above sea level. Up here, above the clouds, there’s a big focus on local – Angus from O¯ hakune and carrots from Horopito. There’s also a cafe, and food truck-style tuck shop in winter.
In the summer months, there are several stunning walks to choose from, such as the twohour skyline ridge walk that takes you even higher, with views of Tongariro, and Nga¯ uruhoe. Or take the ‘‘amphitheatre’’ walk back down to the base station. In winter, you can ski or snowboard.
If I am thankful for one thing from this pandemic, it’s the chance to fall in love with New Zealand all over again. As you read this, I’m staying at a fairy tale treehouse. When I found a picture of it online, it looked so cool, I was adamant it wouldn’t be in New Zealand. Surely the United States, perhaps even Europe? It ended up being 11.2km from home.
In the same vein, we don’t need to travel to Switzerland to have a hot chocolate high up a mountain. The Sky Waka takes you right there.
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This article was produced with the support of Destination Great Lake Taupo and Tourism New Zealand.