Central Otago's motor sport park is moving forwards while taking a step back in time, Peter Donaldson writes.
A pack of dinosaurs has taken up residence in a forest at Cromwell.
And there are more in a large shipping container, ready to join them.
It's just as well there's plenty of roaming room because they're sharing the woodland setting with a couple of yeti and a recently landed spaceship and its wandering crew.
But fear not. Even though actor Sam Neill lives just up the road, this is no mutated version of Jurassic Park.
Rather, it's the latest attraction at Highlands Motorsport Park, where owner Tony Quinn's creative streak appears to know no bounds.
''It hasn't even got a name yet. We're still kicking around ideas,'' facility general manager Mike Sentch said during a recent visit. ''I suppose it's our adventure land, a discovery area for families.''
Some of the brightly coloured highly detailed prehistoric inhabitants are up to 3m high, while others, such as a striped giant lizard, are 3m long.
The designs and moulds originated in Australia and were sent to the Philippines to be cast in fibreglass and detailed.
They have been set up deep in the facility. A safari-type vehicle will take visitors to the manicured grassland and airy pine woods where sturdy ''traditional'' children's attractions have been built.
''They are the things I remember from my childhood; flying foxes and tyres and wood structures. No plastic,'' Sentch says.
''It's nearly finished. We're just going through the regulatory issues.''
It's due to open early next month, just in time for the Highlands 101 meeting, which includes a round of the Australian GT Championship on November 8-9.
That's when monsters of another kind will take over the circuit, roaring, rumbling fire-belching exotic marques such as Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren.
Like anything Quinn authorises at Highlands, the parkland and expensive sports cars are high quality additions to what in merely 18 months has become a leading Central Otago family attraction.
Highlands is unique in that it is more than just a racetrack facility built to indulge its multimillionaire owner's motorsport cravings. Quinn simply doesn't do mediocrity, scruffy, half-finished or second-best.
It is, unquestionably, a world-class facility, and it's right here in Otago.
Contrasting with the snaking black ribbons of tarmac are some of the largest, greenest and neatest bore-irrigated lawns in all of Central. Then there are the pockets of landscaping, some in areas only passed by drivers in far too much of a hurry to appreciate their design aesthetics or horticultural splendour.
The Scotland-born, Australian-domiciled pet-food baron might have spent $30 million - and rising - but it's clear his vision for Highlands extends way beyond four-wheeled adrenaline rushes for a handful of members and the general public.
Although the facility does those well; hot laps in fast-cars, karting, off-road buggies and a soon-to-be completed rallycross course. For less frenetic activities, there is the motorsport museum, with its regularly updated exhibits, and the Nose restaurant.
Commercially, Highlands is proving an attractive location for corporate events, on and off-track. It's also becoming a regular venue for car industry testing and launches. And it's now on the list of desirable settings for international advertising industry film shoots.
For Highlands' 125 founder members - sorry, membership closed 18 months ago, but there is a waiting list; think about $15,000 if a vacancy comes up - the attractions are obvious.
They are entitled to 80 track days a year, though Sentch says no-one has come close to using their quota.
''But we do have members call in on their way to Queenstown or Wanaka, do 10 or 12 laps in the 'company car' and then carry on to their destination.''
Then there are the members-only business and residential opportunities.
Seventeen of the 40 non-retail commercial-residential sites have been sold and one member has already built his unit - 80sq m of living space atop a 200sq m workshop.
There are also 12 apartment sites available for members to buy.
Sentch is proud of this multilayered growth and the job and financial benefits Highlands has brought to Cromwell.
''We're making money.''
Most of Highlands' 37 full-time staff live in the area and with summer coming up, more seasonal part-timers have been employed.
''We are pushing hard to bring visitors to Cromwell,'' Sentch says.
''There are some great accommodation and eating choices as well as other leisure activities.''
And for those travelling to Cromwell for the Highlands 101 or next Friday and Saturday's visit by the Targa South Island Rally, there are a couple of other wheeled attractions either side of Highlands worth considering.
Bannockburn-based Central Otago Motorcycles Tours offers road and off-road excursions, or for those who prefer pedal power, Heliview, at Cromwell Airport, can fly cyclists to a selection of stunning hill-country starting points.
- Peter Donaldson was hosted in Cromwell by Highlands Motorsport Park and Tourism Central Otago.
