Village Picnic owner Philippa Potaka says customers solve clues and puzzles during the self-drive trips, guiding them to collect locally-sourced food and beverages while they visit "off the beaten track" places and activities.
The excursions, which take around five hours and involve about 10 stops, culminate in a picnic at a secret destination, Potaka says.
"They’re not the adrenaline-seeking adventures that everyone seems to go to Queenstown for."
Costing $590 for a couple, including all food and drinks, they’re a mixture of "fun, food and adventure".
She began offering the ‘Mystery Picnic’ experience during Covid in Matakana, north of Auckland, when "everyone just wanted to get out of the house".
It’s an adaptation of a concept she’d seen in Australia, but with a more homespun, "old school" twist, she says.
There’s also an e-bike version, called ‘Pedal n Picnic’.
Potaka says she’s brought them south because customers kept telling her ‘this would go so well in Queenstown’.
While on holiday in the resort earlier this year she decided to make a few inquiries about potential collaborators.
That led to a meeting in May with Jade Ponniah and Carla Bonata Neves, owners of The People Pleasers, who’ve signed on to run the business here.
Potaka says her core customers in Matakana have been day-trippers from Auckland, many of them looking for a "romantic date-day reimagined".
As well as international visitors, she expects it’ll attract many domestic visitors looking for a new experience after ticking off the more well-trodden Queenstown attractions.
