{"id":439,"date":"2024-04-03T03:43:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T03:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myholidayradar.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/03\/10-years-of-living-in-wanaka-as-an-expat\/"},"modified":"2024-04-03T03:43:58","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T03:43:58","slug":"10-years-of-living-in-wanaka-as-an-expat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myholidayradar.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/03\/10-years-of-living-in-wanaka-as-an-expat\/","title":{"rendered":"10 years of living in W\u0101naka as an expat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Exactly ten years ago, I arrived in W\u0101naka in a little red car with my whole life packed inside it. Back then, W\u0101naka was still a sleepy little mountain town where Instagram wasn\u2019t really a thing, and no one cared about a tree in the lake. I cannot believe I\u2019ve passed a decade of living in Wanaka. When you start to remember in decades, you feel old.<\/p>\n

Way back whent, I was blogging full-time and could live anywhere. After my lease ended in Wellington, I headed south. Preferring the chiller W\u0101naka<\/a> to Queenstown, I ended up settling here. It was an easy place to fall in love with. It still is.<\/p>\n

\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tThe 10 most Instagrammable spots in W\u0101naka<\/a>\t<\/div>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Like so many expats who settle here, I came for a little while and just never left. Well, I did move to Lyttelton (Christchurch<\/a>) for a couple of years during COVID, you know, for love, but I\u2019m trying to forget that. As soon as things went tits up, I ran straight back into the arms of all my friends in W\u0101naka. Home.<\/p>\n

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While my feelings for W\u0101naka have become more complicated over the years, and I\u2019m still reconciling myself with them, it still feels like home to me. Don\u2019t get me wrong; I love it here. But W\u0101naka\u2019s changed so much over the past decade, growing and expanding rapidly, just like so many resort towns worldwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Truthfully? I\u2019m mostly disillusioned with the cost. The average house costs around $1.5 million today, which has changed the town\u2019s vibe. I\u2019ve never owned a home before, and I don\u2019t really see how I could ever afford my first house to be here. It\u2019s $175 to fill up my car. One bag of groceries is $100. Lunch is $30. It\u2019s really hard to get ahead. Recently, I was in Melbourne, and it was cheaper than W\u0101naka!<\/p>\n

Anyways, New Zealand is officially in a recession. I also know this is just how things work. Towns grow, especially beautiful ones. As I reflect back on these ten years, my heart fills with emotion. While I\u2019m unsure I\u2019ll be here forever, W\u0101naka definitely buried under my skin and has become a big part of me.<\/p>\n

Here are ten of the many reasons I fell in love with W\u0101naka.<\/p>\n

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1. The epic landscape and mindboggling views<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Ok, I\u2019m going to be honest here. Wanaka could have a million things going for it (and it does), but one will always top all the rest: it\u2019s insanely beautiful. Like, it doesn\u2019t look real kind of beautiful. This is why people pay millions of dollars to live here. And why young people will live in their cars for the chance to spend time here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve seen it all over social media. No matter where you walk outside, you have a beautiful view of the mountains. Right next door to a national park and nestled along a pristine blue lake with even bigger mountains as the backdrop, it\u2019s no surprise that we all are wooed by her beauty. You can\u2019t take a bad photo here. You can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re never far from an amazing hike or outdoor adventure in W\u0101naka. A mecca for outdoor enthusiasts as well as curious travelers, you couldn\u2019t ask for a more picturesque backdrop.<\/p>\n

\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t9 day hikes in Wanaka that should be on your bucketlist<\/a>\t<\/div>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

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2. Small-town vibes for real<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Even though the population here in W\u0101naka has doubled in the decade I\u2019ve lived here, it still exudes small-town vibes. A kind and friendly place (also very wealthy); you\u2019ll always see people you know when you go out. It\u2019s the kind of place where everyone knows your name, from the postie to friends of friends to your barista. It\u2019s wonderful but also makes dating hard and somewhat incestuous.<\/p>\n

Crime is never on anyone\u2019s mind in W\u0101naka; it\u2019s the kind of place where you can leave your wallet and phone on a cafe table, and it\u2019ll still be there when you come back. In fact, our weekly news bulletin, The Messenger, has a Crimestoppers column written up by the local constable, and it\u2019s generally hilarious. Firstly, because the \u201ccrimes\u201d a often not even crimes, like the one time the police went to the local petrol station at night to inspect an alarm going off and accidentally set off the anti-burglar fog canon on themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Or the fact that they love to share their own thoughts and opinions on the crimes themselves: \u201cNow you\u2019d choke on your cornflakes if you saw how many crashes we\u2019ve had on our roads over the past two weeks. I won\u2019t bore you with the list, but we\u2019ll share a couple. Oh, to be a tow truck driver\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Love it.<\/p>\n

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3. You\u2019re surrounded by adventures<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

One of the first things I noticed while living in Wanaka was that there is no shortage of adventure to be had here. And there is no shortage of badass adventurers, either.<\/p>\n

The gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park<\/a>, W\u0101naka, is the perfect base for those who love to spend their time outdoors. Established in 1964 and covering over 3,500 square kilometers, the national park sits at the bottom of the Southern Alps and sprawls towards the Haast Pass to the west coast, across to Glenorchy, and down to Fiordland. Lorded over by the perfect peak, Mount Aspiring\/Tititea (3,033 meters) and many glaciers, it\u2019s a beautiful place to explore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re tramping in the mountains, sailing on the lake, skiing fresh powder, rock climbing down the valley, or mountain biking after work, W\u0101naka was made for the adventurous.<\/p>\n

In many ways, adventure here is much more down to earth than in Queenstown. The hikes can be really hard and often not easy to access. If you want nature, you chuck on your boots and walk to it.<\/p>\n

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4. Every season is amazing<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

One of my favorite things about living in Wanaka is that we have four distinct seasons. Granted, they are reversed from the northern hemisphere but you get used to it. Christmas in the middle of summer is actually awesome.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In autumn, everything turns red and gold. We have almost no native deciduous trees in New Zealand, and sadly, all of the natives were burned for farming once humans settled here. But because of all those farms, many other trees were introduced, like poplars and other old-school European trees. Also, there are tons of vineyards, so the landscape here pops with color come autumn (April). It\u2019s one of the best places for fall foliage.<\/p>\n

[\/infobox]20 photos of autumn in New Zealand that will delight you<\/a>[\/infobox]<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

We have two epic ski fields nearby and snowy mountains in winter. Spring turns the landscape into a rainbow of colors, and our summers are super hot and dry, where everyone hangs out by clear blue lakes. Perfection.<\/p>\n

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5. H\u0101wea is actually the best<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Is it weird that one of my favorite parts of\u00a0W\u0101naka is H\u0101wea<\/a>? A little suburb of W\u0101naka, Lake H\u0101wea is just fifteen minutes down the road towards the West Coast on another magical alpine lake. Spoiler alert \u2013 Lake H\u0101wea beats Lake W\u0101naka. I will die on this hill. Clearer and quieter, it is colder, but it\u2019s so relaxed and beautiful. Sometimes, I\u2019m the only person on the beach, as far as I can see.<\/p>\n

A decade ago, H\u0101wea was just a little collection of baches (holiday houses) and home to the hippier hippies of W\u0101naka. Artsy, quiet, and creative, it seemed so far away back then. Now, many of the paddocks are being developed and turning into those cookie-cutter neighborhoods, a little more \u201caffordable\u201d at around a million dollars. It\u2019s where all of my friends have moved to and built houses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve lived in H\u0101wea for nearly two years now and love it. It is still really chill. We have a corner shop, and that\u2019s about it. I take long walks daily and can easily stroll to my friends\u2019 houses. In the summer I swim in the lake almost every day. It\u2019s magic.<\/p>\n

When I was working on a ship in the Arctic, I met a passenger who had an artist friend they met traveling living in H\u0101wea. They wrote him a letter and asked me to give it to him. I had no idea who he was. When I got home I posted the name of the person in our community Facebook group about it and found him to drop off the letter. Everyone loved the story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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6. Work doesn\u2019t define you<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

W\u0101naka is the kind of place where the people who live here really want to be here. You have to really want it to afford it.\u00a0It attracts really creative, interesting, chill, and outdoorsy people, all united by a love of nature. Without the job opportunities of big cities, people just take whatever work they can get to continue living in Wanaka, even for a little bit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But what is so cool is that your passions and hobbies matter more than your job. Who you really are. No one really cares what your job is. I love that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I will say making friends in\u00a0W\u0101naka isn\u2019t super easy. A transitory town by nature; if locals think you\u2019re only here traveling or seasonally, they might not bother with you. Harsh, I know. But once you\u2019re in, you\u2019re in. And one of the best ways to meet likeminded people here is getting involved with the outdoorsy stuff. There\u2019s so much of it.<\/p>\n

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7. Epic ski fields nearby<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

By and large, W\u0101naka is a ski town. Cardrona and Treble Cone are two of New Zealand\u2019s most iconic ski fields, and they are both next to W\u0101naka. Wintertime is just as busy as summertime here. It\u2019s very much a resort town but not as super duper flashy, like Whistler. We also have great heliskiing<\/a> too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019re old school here and proud of it. There aren\u2019t any big gondolas to carry you up to the top of the mountain. You have to drive up dirt roads to reach the ski fields, and there are only a few chairlifts at each. But it\u2019s so amazing. Above the alpine layer, we have no trees, so the views out are spectacular. Also, surprisingly, we have the calmest weather in winter. Not a lot of wind. We get plenty of bluebird calm days in the sunshine.<\/p>\n

W\u0101naka in the wintertime is really just perfect.<\/p>\n

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8. It\u2019s close to all the best spots<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

One of the best parts of living in Wanaka is not just what\u2019s around town but the fact that it\u2019s so central to some of the best areas. Just over the hill, you\u2019ve got the bigger hub of Queenstown with the main airport, plenty of single men, and, most importantly, Kmart.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to being surrounded by national parks, wine country around Central Otago is less than an hour\u2019s drive away from W\u0101naka, with some of the best pinot noir around. Clyde, Cromwell, and Alexandra are easy to get to. We have two great ski fields within an easy drive, and Cardrona and Arrowtown are both cute stops on the way over the Crown Range to Queenstown.<\/p>\n

The coast is only a few hours away, with most of us either bopping down to the Catlins<\/a> or Riverton<\/a> or heading over to the west coast for some sea air. Dunedin, the main city for our region, is three hours away.<\/p>\n

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9. <\/strong>It\u2019s super cute and quirky<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

While development in W\u0101naka is booming, the great local haunts endure. Full of charm, history, and super quirky, they\u2019re the places that make so many of us fall in love with living in Wanaka.<\/p>\n

We have a huge fence covered in bras down the road at Cardrona. Not much more to it than that. The Cardrona Bra Fence<\/a> has been going strong for decades, though occasionally pissing off locals enough that they rip them all off during the night only for them to reappear quickly.<\/p>\n

Our local cinema, Cinema Paradiso, has comfy chairs, couches, and even a convertible car for watching the latest films. During intermission, they also serve freshly baked cookies. Puzzling World is a weird and beloved local attraction filled with optical illusions, deceptively hard mazes, and other deceptively hard puzzles. We also have a toy museum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Long live small, eccentric towns!<\/p>\n

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10. The clearest n<\/strong>ight skies<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Finally, one of my favorite things about living in Wanaka has to be our clear night skies. Still remote compared to the rest of the world, we have little light pollution in and around W\u0101naka. This means that on clear nights, the stars are incredible\u2014even in town.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You can step outside your home at night and see the Milky Way. And if you\u2019re lucky, we often have the aurora or Southern Lights<\/a> dancing on the horizon.<\/p>\n

Well damn. Writing this just made me fall in love with\u00a0W\u0101naka all over again!<\/p>\n

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The post 10 years of living in W\u0101naka as an expat<\/a> appeared first on Young Adventuress<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exactly ten years ago, I arrived in W\u0101naka in a little red car with my whole life packed inside it. Back then, W\u0101naka was still a sleepy little mountain town where Instagram wasn\u2019t really a thing, and no one cared about a tree in the lake. I cannot believe I\u2019ve passed a decade of living […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[]},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myholidayradar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myholidayradar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myholidayradar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myholidayradar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myholidayradar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/myholidayradar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myholidayradar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myholidayradar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myholidayradar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myholidayradar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}