Lights, Camera, Paradise

With its visually arresting scenery, New Zealand’s Lake Wanaka region has taken a starring role in The Lord of the Rings and this month’s A Wrinkle in Time. CARRIE MILLER reveals why it’s a mecca for adventure lovers as well as movie fans.

You may not know it, but the scenery of New Zealand’s South Island—kingly mountains, ethereal rain forests, and golden ribbons of empty beach—has become famous, thanks to films like the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Wolverine. On March 9, those otherworldly landscapes return to the big screen in director Ava DuVernay’s adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s sci-fitale A Wrinkle in Time. DuVernay searched for a stand-in for an idyllic planet, and found it in the region of Lake Wanaka—specifically, in the mountains surrounding Lake Hawea, which runs parallel to Wanaka, and at Hunter Valley Station, a 27,000-acre ranch on Hawea’s western shore. These locations lack moviemaking infrastructure, so the cast and crew stayed in Wanaka, a compact township at Lake Wanaka’s southernmost tip (and my home for the past three years). An hour from Queenstown, it’s popular year-round with New Zealanders for its stunning location, variety of outdoor activities, and a walkable community that punches above its weight when it comes to food and wine. Here are a few reasons to visit the area beyond its cinematic cachet.

You can experience luxury in the wild.