4 minute read
The New Zealand Guide to Time Travel
Vintage car at Art Deco Weekend, Napier © Hawke’s Bay Tourism
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Hooters Vintage & Classic Vehicle Hire, Hawke’s Bay, North Island
If you’ve ever read The Great Gatsby wishing you could parade around town with as much panache as the New York elite, it’s time to don a pocket watch and visit Hawke’s Bay. Famed for its post 1931-earthquake rebuild into an art deco mecca, including an annual festival celebrating the era’s razzle dazzle, visitors can hire the only open-top vintage cars in the country. Following a one-hour mandatory lesson, in which you’ll fully master the complexities of ‘double de-clutching’, you’ll be given the keys to a 1926 Dodge, a gleaming 1950s Citroën or something equally spiffy. The day is yours to roar around Hawke’s Bay. Should your gallivanting include wineries, fully chauffeured guided tours are also an option.
Shantytown, West Coast, South Island
Wagon ride at Erewhon Station, Canterbury © Canterbury Tourism
You are no longer your 21st-century self. You’re a buccaneering gold miner; a pioneer; a valiant bank robber. In fact, in Shantytown, a recreated 1860s gold-mining town, you can be anything your 19th-century alter ego desires. Step foot inside a cluster of gold-rush-era buildings and step back in time. Visit the hospital with its terrifying medicinal jars and the general store for hard-boiled sweets. Throw yourself in jail and warm your cold, goldpanning fingers before a pot belly stove in the saloon. King Dick’s café serves an elegant cream tea and the local hotel pours the brews. And just when you thought history couldn’t feel any more real, a chugging steam train rumbles into town. Jump aboard for a ride through the bush to an ancient sawmill. Return to a land before city skylines. The Canterbury high country is wild and unspoiled, governed solely by nature’s most hardened species. Take the reins of a gentle yet sure-footed horse and climb into the high plateau. Fully guided, multi-day rides include overnight stays in musterers’ huts, dining by camp fire and waking to crisp, mist-smeared mornings. By day, travel like a cowboy, navigating braided rivers and mountain tops. By night, leave the horses to graze and sleep soundly by starlight. With a maximum six in a group, riding up to six hours per day, multi-day rides range from two days to five, with single-day treks available for ranch hands in a rush.
Larnach Castle, Dunedin, South Island
Larnach Castle, Otago © DunedinNZ
What must life as lord and lady of the manor have been like? Between the grand balls and servants seeing to every whim, when did the titillating scandals occur? Spend a day at Larnach Castle and live the life of a 19th century aristocrat. You’ll soon find out. Built in 1871 by William Larnach, New Zealand’s only castle has been restored to its original grandeur, complete with period furnishings and an authentic High Tea served in The Ballroom. Visitors can swan around the sevenhectare garden (also a Garden of International Significance) and stay overnight in regal abodes, including the 140-year-old historic stables which are Category 1 listed. In keeping with the setting, a decadent four-course dinner is served around a grand dining table.
Glenbrook Vintage Railway, Waiuku, Auckland, North Island
Glenbrook Vintage Railway, South Auckland © Wham Design
Rewind 100 years and the humble train station was a destination unto itself, a place where waiting rooms buzzed and porters scurried; steam billowed and whistles signalled imminent adventure. Relive the magic at Glenbrook Vintage Railway Station. Both diesel and steam train day excursions chug in and out, collecting passengers for nostalgic journeys across rural Waiuku. Every detail is perfectly re-enacted, from traditional cardboard tickets stubbed by dapper staff, to immaculate, leather-clad carriages. The FirstClass experience includes a refined High Tea, while a full-blown, three-day expedition travels from Auckland to Ohakune via Hamilton and Taumarunui National Park, courtesy of Discover Ruapehu Rail Tours.
Ōamaru Victorian Precinct, South Island
There’s no such thing as new-fangled nonsense in Ōamaru; you’re more likely to see an abacus than Google. Namely because the Victorians never left. Beautiful historic buildings lining Ōamaru’s Victorian Precinct boast shapely façades and grant access to traditional bookbinders, woodworkers and tables laden with fine china teacups. The general store sells rock confectionery, a vintage steam train lugs to the harbour and when the annual Victorian fête comes to town, moustached speed-demons career down the street on Penny Farthings. Stopping here is more of an experience than an activity, especially when you lay eyes upon Steampunk HQ – an ode to the futuristic subgenre. A fusion of sci-fi, steam and dystopian 19th century England, it’s difficult to ignore.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Waitangi Treaty Grounds
Stand in the very spot the original Treaty manuscript was drawn up and ascend the same hill many Māori chiefs climbed to sign it. This and many other poignant moments await.
Howick Historical Village
A living museum with more than 30 original colonial buildings. Meander the recreated village and look out for ‘live days’ when locals don full historical costume.
Fort Taiaroa Built to thwart Russian invasion, a secret fort lies beneath Dunedin’s Royal Albatross Centre. Explore underground tunnels and see the world’s only Armstrong Disappearing Gun.
TSS Earnslaw
Enjoy Queenstown’s stunning alpine scenery while chugging across Lake Wakitipu aboard the 107-year-old TSS Earnslaw. Visit stokers in the engine room or relax in the vintage saloon.
