Sophie Piearcey’s Lake Hāwea Escape

“I didn’t know how much there was to do here, I thought we just used this road as a drive-through to the West Coast” exclaimed my adventure-loving husband as he took his third dive bomb off the rock into Lake Hāwea from the seclusion of our own private little cove.

2021 is about new adventures, supporting local, getting out there, and having a damn good time at every chance you get, are you with me New Zealand? Good. I am telling you now, there is so much to do here in Lake Hāwea and we jumped at the chance to explore somewhere new, again.

The staff greeted us with the biggest smiles, genuinely stoked to show us around their ever-developing property, and kindly walked us down to our tent. The Denver, Colorado Tents in Denver Cove are the perfect getaway destination for couples, friends, or just a night for you. The glamping setup offers uninterrupted views of the lake and mountains, a mess tent to prepare food, and access to a secret cove where rock jumping and lake swimming is a must!

As we approached the tent and I saw the king-sized bed and homely details my heart did a little happy dance. It was modern, yet rustic, beautiful, and comfortable. Everything you need for a home away from home. We settled in and admired the views, that was until 2.5 seconds later Robbie hit the water for his first of many swims. We meandered down to the next bay and took the old school wooden canoe for a spin on the lake. It was still and calm. The water so pure you could see the bottom and the early morning sun warmed up our bodies for a day of adventure in Hāwea.

After an hour of balancing in the canoe together, one near capsize, and time spent floating into the morning light we slowly paddled back to shore to fuel up for our next adventure.

It’s an idea that has to start somewhere and that somewhere is perched high on the saddle of a YouMo ebike, built for explorers who are keen for an adventure… with a little assistance. We jumped on the bikes and off we went, my yelps of excitement had Juliet run to the door to watch as two virgin ebikers set off on their Lake Hāwea riverside trail mission. We quickly toured the property with Rik, he showed us all the hot tub sites and where his plans will come to life, and off on our merry way we went.

We hit the trail. Did you know that right out of Rik’s gate is a network of trails that lead you to Luggate and Wānaka, back down to Hāwea, and loop tracks galore? The world really is your oyster on an eBike! We cycled past the wave, a manmade surfing and whitewater wave on the river, we watched as kids attempted to surf and others just took a boogie board to the face, entertainment for all.

A slow ride took us down the Hāwea River Trail, ending at the lake and back to camp. We pushed the bike speed to 33km – that’s right, ya girl got up to 33km on a river trail dodging rabbits, racing Robbie, and managing to stay upright the whole time!

We indulged on a cheese grazing platter and a freshly made wood-fired mushroom pizza and damn… both so delicious. When staying in the Denver tents the crew will deliver your meals to your tent porch. Honestly, the perfect way to have dinner while sipping on a glass of rose watching the sun disappear over the mountains.

After filling up on food truck goodness it was time to make the 5km ride back to Rik’s pad for an evening hot tub. Now, it might have been the pizza, it may have been the glass of rose or it may be that we are now eBike pros, but I’m telling you that we made it back to LandEscape in record time.

A private, wood-fired hot tub overlooking the mountains of Lake Hāwea and Wānaka awaited. We had champagne on ice, (fancy I know…) and all the time we wanted. Rik showed us the tub, how to add some more wood, and left us to relax – and relax, we did! I think we clocked out after three hours, that was after Robbie added more wood and nearly boiled us out of the tub. We watched the sunset turn to dusk and the night sky appear, with zero light pollution the night sky here is truly magical.

Before departing camp we made a pit stop at the food truck for a good cup of joe and some brekky. I went for homemade granola, delicious. Robbie had a salmon bagel that I barely got time to take a photo of before he demolished it, reports back are delicious too. We also checked out the new areas of the camp, events space, a cottage, and some super cool new dome tents – don’t worry I already put my name down to grab one of those upon completion.

What a magical time away right here in our epic backyard. Lake Hāwea, you provided the best active adventure weekend filled with laughs, beautiful views, and enough relaxation to keep us going until our next escape.