Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki’s star attraction is the tawaki, or Fiordland crested penguin. The tawaki is found only in the southwest corner of the South Island, and around 10% of the roughly 3,000 pairs come ashore along the Lake Moeraki coastline to breed. The lodge has guided guests to see tawaki since 1989 under a special Department of Conservation licence.
Positioned between a lake, river and the Tasman Sea, the lodge also offers guided rainforest walks, kayaking, and wild brown trout fishing, with one complimentary activity each day. Despite recent road closures affecting the region, access to Lake Moeraki remains accessible, with the road fully open over weekends and escorted convoys operating on weekdays.
Midway between Christchurch and the West Coast, Wilderness Lodge Arthur’s Pass occupies a 4,000-acre farm and nature reserve beside the glacier-fed Waimakariri River. A high-country sheep station (named Cora Lynn in the 1860s), it produces fine merino wool, angus calves and prime lamb for the lodge restaurant. Guests can explore the farm with a guide and watch working sheepdogs, hand-feed lambs, and see sheep shearing done the traditional way, while a 30-kilometre trail invites hiking across forest, farm and mountain.
