Wilderness Lodges of New Zealand

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Wilderness Lodges of New Zealand

Discover wild New Zealand in comfort and style at two luxurious family-owned and operated Wilderness Lodges.

One located at Lake Moeraki, between Franz Josef and Wanaka, the other in the Southern Alps near Arthur's Pass. The two Wilderness Lodges capture the diversity of the South Island's remarkable wild heart. Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki is nestled in ancient rainforest beside the Moeraki River, a short distance from the Tasman Seacoast. Wilderness Lodge Arthur's Pass is surrounded by the 4000 acre W

ilderness Lodge sheep farm and nature reserve, high in the Southern Alps. At both locations a dynamic guide nature adventures immerses guests in the natural world. Discover rare wildlife, hike, kayak and explore to your heart's content while still enjoying the finer things in life.

13/06/2026

Both Wilderness Lodges of New Zealand two Lodges reopen on 1 October for the 2026-2027 visitor season.

Wilderness Lodge Arthur's Pass is in the middle of its own nature reserve/ merino sheep station in the heart of the Southern Alps

Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki is surrounded by ancient rainforest on the shores of the lake and a short walk from the Tasman Sea.

October is the start of the 10 week Tawaki penguin viewing season at Lake Moeraki. It is also at both Lodges a great time for wildlife viewing. Here are some short videos of some of our special birdlife.

27/05/2026

We had a big day today on the Cora Lynn Station that surrounds Wilderness Lodge Arthur's Pass. The goal was to move 96 Angus beef breeding cows from their summer grazing land, 12 km to the east which is their lower altitude winter grazing country on Goldney Hill. The route? Highway 73, the Great Arthur's Pass Alpine Highway.

Droving cattle is a very traditional way of moving stock in the South Island high country. It is very important on Cora Lynn Station because the farm is essentially divided into two parts separated by a mountain range.

We started today at dawn before there was much traffic on the road. With pre-warning scout vehicles driven by Michael and Gerry front and back and the cattle movement tightly controlled by Stock Manager Ollie and Farm Advisor Rhys with their cattle dogs we made great progress and completed the job in a record 3 hours.

People driving on the road are very understanding and patient once it is explained to them. We help them to drive through the cattle herd while the cows are walking along the road. Tourists love to take photos of the highway cattle droving. Fortunately the cattle today weren't freaked out by the big train on the Midland line that passed us as we herded the cattle along the road (see video)

We will also drove flocks of sheep along the highway (see photo) at other different times of the year.

22/05/2026

Freshwater wetlands, rivers, estuaries and wildlife in the Lake Moeraki natural areas surrounding Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki in South Westland on West Coast, New Zealand .

Abundant rainfall, largely untouched lowland native forests, great native birdlife, effective control of introduced predatory rats and weasels/stoats and possums by the Department of Conservation all combine to make this a very special place to visit at any time of the year.

Here are some special images that we took around the Wilderness Lodge.

www.wildernesslodge.co.nz

13/05/2026

This week in New Zealand we celebrated Mother’s Day. We want to recognise for their Wilderness Lodges comtribution two special mothers, Anne Saunders and her daughter-in-law Hannah Bedford. Both are closely linked with the Wilderness Lodges. They have played a central role alongside their husbands in the development and operation of the Wilderness Lodges at Arthur’s Pass and Lake Moeraki and faced all the challenges of building and staffing new businesses in remote locations.

Both Anne and Hannah have helped to protect and encourage greater awareness of nature around the Wilderness Lodges. With the help of Te Kura, the New Zealand Correspondence School, they have also home-schooled their children in these remote Lodge locations far from formal schools.

Here are Anne and Hannah on Mother’s Day 2026, standing in Springfield township beneath the mountains of the Korowai- Torlesse Tussocklands Conservation Park. This Park was opened in 2001 following a major public effort to protect this special place, the closest wild mountainlands to Christchurch city.

For over 30 years Anne Saunders and her husband Gerry McSweeney have owned both the Wilderness Lodges in two remote parts of NZ’s South Island. Anne taught their 3 children through the Correspondence School at Lake Moeraki and later raised them at the second Wilderness Lodge they developed at Arthur’s Pass. Anne and Gerry’s son Michael and his wife Hannah managed WLAP for many years until 2025. They now own the Cora Lynn Station farm that surrounds the Lodge. Here the farm continues to offer Merino sheep discovery tours to Wilderness Lodge guests every second night. The farm is also traversed by a network of Lodge walking trails and has a close relationship with the Lodge.

Wilderness Lodge Arthur’s Pass lies at the centre of one of the largest protected areas of mountainlands and montane forests in New Zealand. At the Wilderness Lodge property and on the surrounding Cora Lynn Station around half these properties are legally protected as nature reserves. The 22,000 hectare Korowai-Torlesse Tussockland Park was championed by Anne, Gerry, Michael and Hannah. It is part of nearly 200,000ha of very special protected land in the Upper Waimakariri River basin. This includes the 22,000ha Tussockland Park, the 44,694ha Craigieburn Forest Park, the Castle Hill/Kura Tawhiti limestone reserve and the large 118,500ha Arthur’s Pass National Park.
www.wildernesslodge.co.nz

28/04/2026

On the Lake Moeraki coastline in South Westland NZ winter is approaching in June. For most wildlife winter is a time they hunker down and are not active as the keep warm and await the arrival of spring.

For Tawaki/Fiordland Crested Penguins winter is when they arrive in July from 6 months feeding and sleeping on the Southern Ocean to start their 2026 breeding season.

We will be guiding half-day Tawaki penguin viewing trips from October 2026.

To recognise just how special are Tawaki Penguins we are re-posting our most popular story from 2025-2026, a little video Gerry took of three Tawaki heading into the Tasman Sea to get food for their fast growing chicks.

We have also put below a backgrounder on the previous 2024 season's Tawaki breeding success along the South Westland coastline.

This survey shows approximately 85% breeding success for the 2024 season.
Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki Guided Tawaki Penguin viewing trips for Lodge guests start on 1 October 2026
www.wildernesslodge.co.nz
Tawaki are the third rarest of the world's 18 penguin species and nest only in the south-west corner of New Zealand.
Over the last 36 years from Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki we have monitored several Tawaki Penguin colonies and been actively involved in their protection. These Lake Moeraki coastline colonies have shown a steady increase in numbers of breeding penguins over this long period. A significant contributor to that breeding success is protection of the coastal forest breeding areas, prevention of disturbance by people and active control of introduced predators including stoats, rats, possums and domestic dogs.
In addition to looking after our Lake Moeraki coastline monitored colonies, the Wilderness Lodge and our guests have financially helped the West Coast Penguin Trust each year with a major funding contribution to their schools and community education and penguin protection and monitoring work.
The West Coast Penguin Trust Annual Report has just come out and reports on breeding success at 3 main Tawaki Penguin breeding areas in South Westland; the Lake Moeraki coastline, Jackson Head and Gorge River.
Approximately 85% breeding success at the most vulnerable egg to fledged chick stage is great news for these wild birds. Tawaki's breeding success is an encouraging contrast to the sad plight of Hoiho, the other endemic large penguin nesting of the NZ mainland found in the SE corner of the South Island. This Hoiho population has declined 83% since 1996 to just 163 breeding pairs by 2023. Conservationists fear it could become extinct by 2060.
https://www.forestandbird.org.nz/.../hoiho-numbers-plummet
West Coast Penguin Trust Annual Report 2024-25
www.westcoastpenguintrust.org.nz
Fiordland crested penguins / tawaki
• After a very successful season in 2023, with several monitored nests raising two chicks, rare for crested penguins, the 2024 season was back to a more normal level of breeding success.
• Tawaki Ranger, Sarah Kivi, monitored nests at two sites in South Westland twice during the season. The first checks were in early September, looking for nests with eggs and then later in the month to check for chicks.
• At the colony north of Haast, 10 active nests were found, of which two failed at egg stage and eight had ten chicks at the second visit. A third visit from Lucy found the same chicks alive but it’s not clear or perhaps even likely that both chicks survived in the two nests where they were seen, so 8 chicks fledged from 10 breeding attempts is assumed, at least as a minimum.
• At the Jackson Head colony, 11 nests were monitored, 20 eggs were seen, 1 nest failed at egg stage and another at chick stage. Nine nests successfully hatched 11 live chicks at the second visit, but again, we assume a minimum of 9 chicks fledged from 11 breeding attempts.
• Sarah reported a large slip along part of the west-facing Jackson Head colony that would have destroyed several nesting sites unfortunately.
• Tawaki Ranger, Catherine Stewart, continued the more frequent monitoring of nests at Gorge River, for the 11th year, the earlier years started by daughter and Trustee, Robin Long.
• Monitoring comprised six checks of 27 nests between mid-August and late October, nine of which had trail cameras deployed. A further 15 nests used in previous years were checked but were not used this season. Poor weather meant access around the colony was difficult. Of the 27 nests with penguins, 24 had penguins sitting on eggs by 20th August. All eggs were hatched by 22nd September.
• Two of the nests monitored by trail camera appeared to have failed by mid-September; trail camera footage for one showed the nest failure after a stoat visit. Two healthy chicks were present close to the end of the chick guard stage, after which chicks move around and ‘crèche’, hanging out together waiting for parents to return with food. It is therefore difficult to determine chick survival rate, but we could estimate that 9 chicks fledged from the nest with cameras, a similar rate to the other South Westland
sites, resulting in an average of 84% breeding success, where 100% would be one chick per nest.

07/04/2026

Ruru/Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae) is a small brown owl with lighter speckled plumage and yellow eyes. It is NZ's only surviving native owl species

Ruru are commonly seen in the forest clearings nearby both Wilderness Lodges where they are attracted by their main food, insects, especially moths and large huhu/longhorn beetles.

Ruru have benefitted from 30 years effective control of introduced predators around both our Lodges. By us removing rats, stoats and possums, ruru are breeding very successfully around us. They are almost always heard and often seen on night walks from both Lodges. Their haunting double note call often lulls you to sleep at night.

Here are 3 small films we took of Ruru. The first on a lemonwood tree at Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki, the second in beech forest at Arthur's Pass and the third in Nikau/Kahikatea forest near the seacoast in Golden Bay.

www.wildernesslodge.co.nz

01/04/2026

Extraordinary animals and plants found in the Lake Moeraki lowland rainforests of South Westland, New Zealand.

Surrounded by rainforest, lakes, rivers and the Tasman seacoast, at Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki we sometimes forget just how special it is to live in a place that is home to large penguins, insect-eating plants, harmless vegetarian stick insects, 1,000 year old trees, tree ferns and freshwater lakes jome to usually marine dwelling fur seals.

Hete is a small collection of photos of these from our place. Enjoy.
www.wildernesslodge.co.nz

27/03/2026

New Zealand's community Agricultural and Pastoral (A&P) shows are vital community events that bring widely dispersed farming people throughout NZ together in their region each year.

Tomorrow, the Malvern District 127th Annual A & P show will be held at Sheffield on the high Canterbury Plains. Rural and townspeople from throughout this large region east of the central Southern Alps will come together to celebrate rural excellence.

There are fun events for children and families, serious competitions for excellence in sheep breeding, cows, wool, grains, wood chopping, sheepdog mustering of sheep, baking, preserves and craft and many other activities.

A special event tomorrow for the McSweeney Family from Cora Lynn Station/Wilderness Lodge Arthur's Pass is the "Pet Lamb Competition" and the creative animals/craft from rural produce competition.

Farm Station Owners Michael and Hannah McSweeney have been very busy today working with their 2 daughters, Jean and Olive, to groom their pet lambs to be ready for the highly competitive event.

We will tell you tomorrow how they get on.

23/03/2026

At both our Wilderness Lodges kayaking is a peaceful way to quietly explore the freshwater wetlands, lakes and rivers that surround the Lodges. It is amazing how close you can come in a kayak to birdlife on the lake if you approach silently and do not disturb them. You can also kayak very slowly and get perfect reflections in the lake water.

At Lake Moeraki we have a fleet of 18 single kayaks and 4 doubles all of which are safe, stable and easy to use. They may not be fast but because they have a wide beam they are almost impossible to tip. The Lodge is alongside Lake Moeraki and the Moeraki River. You can sign out a kayak with a safety briefing and head up this small lake to fish, to photograph and to enjoy the surrounding rainforest and mountain views. We also offer guided half-day kayak safaris on Lake Moeraki and, with a second fleet of kayaks, a guided half-day trip to Moeraki Beach and the Tasman Seacoast.

At Arthur's Pass, although the Waimakariri River is our northern property boundary, it is too challenging for us to kayak here with Lodge guests. Instead we explore just beyond the eastern end of our property and kayak on beautiful Lake Pearson/Moana Rua and Lake Sarah.

10/02/2026

Regular rain and lots of warm sunshine right through this summer in the beech/podocarp rainforests that surround Lake Moeraki and in the mountain beech forests of Wilderness Lodge Arthur's Pass create great growing conditions for rainforest fungi, the third biological kingdom of the natural world after the kingdoms of plants and animals.

When asked, most people describe mushrooms as their best known fungi. Many people think of mushrooms only as the fruiting body that we eat, not the millions of feeding root-like hyphae beneath the forest floor breaking down and recycling organic matter.

Soil mycorrhizal fungi partner with the root systems of rainforest trees. They help the trees take up minerals from the soil and they are rewarded with sugars from the tree in an amazing symbiotic relationship. Without that fungal partnership many tree species would fail to grow and thrive.

Here at the Wilderness Lodges Late January and February are the warmest month of summer. Guest at both Lodges every day are walking, exploring, kayaking and even swimming. Out on our network of walking tracks at both the Lodges subtle changes are occurring in the rainforest as autumn approaches. Fungi normally unseen as hyphae beneath the forest floor start to grow their fruiting bodies in an amazing array of shapes and colours.

These are photos of the fungal fruiting bodies you will see in autumn around the Wilderness Lodges. These were mostly taken during autumn on the Rainbow Valley and Moa Forest Walks at Arthur's Pass and on the Riverside and Lower Moeraki Valley Nature Walks at Lake Moeraki.

The fungi in the hand found and photographed on the Lower Lake Moeraki Nature Walk is called a "vegetable cicada fungus" and is a specialized parasite Isaria sinclairii that infect cicada nymphs underground. This fungi replaces host’s abdomen with a white, powdery spore mass (the "vegetable" state). They act as "zombie" pathogens, manipulating behavior to spread spores. The chemical from this fungi has been synthesised. It was the first oral drug used to treat Multiple Sclerosis, approved by the FDA in 2012.

Our Nature Guides at both Lodges will show you some of these fungi on the nature trips they guide when you visit Lake Moeraki and Arthur's Pass.

Address

State Highway Six
Haast
7580

Telephone

+6437500881

Website

https://www.wildernesslodge.co.nz/

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